A Trump Will Attend the First GOP Debate — Just Not the Former President
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GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has said he will not participate in Wednesday’s candidate debate, but a new report says at least one of Trump’s adult children is expected to attend.
Daily Caller reported Monday that Don Jr. and fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle are set to attend the debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee. The pair is expected to promote their Rumble shows, as well as take interviews about the former president, Daily Caller said. It wasn’t clear whether they planned to be present in the debate audience.
“We’re excited to see all of our friends in Milwaukee on Wednesday in support of President Trump. We’re confident that in 2024, GOP voters will reject the RINO establishment and re-nominate President Trump in a landslide,” Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle told Daily Caller.
Trump has said he will give a sit-down interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson in lieu of attending the debate. The interview will be pre-taped and drop Wednesday evening.
The former president posted to Truth Social, “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
The New York Times reported that it was “still unclear” which GOP hopefuls had met the qualifications to appear on the debate stage.
Seven candidates have definitely qualified: Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, former Vice President Mike Pence, the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. An eighth, former President Donald J. Trump, could easily qualify if he wanted to but has not signed the loyalty pledge, and says he plans to skip the debate and instead post an interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The Times reported that the debate qualifications established by the Republican National Committee include meeting “a donor threshold (40,000 individual contributors, including 200 each from 20 states) and a polling threshold (at least 1 percent support in three qualifying national polls, or two qualifying national polls plus qualifying polls from two early-voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina). They must also sign a pledge to support the Republican nominee, whoever it is.”
