Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley finally made a commitment to participate in the fourth Republican Party primary debate in the state of Iowa, hosted by CNN, scheduled for January, and also made a request for former President Donald Trump to participate in the event. Trump has been doing a stellar job in the polls despite his absence from the previous three debates. The reason he has opted out is because he doesn’t feel the media outlets hosting the events will be fair to him — which is probably true — and he refuses to sign the pledge to support the GOP nominee if its not him.
Here’s more from Newsmax:
Trump, the current clear front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has skipped each of the four debates this year. He has cited his significant lead over his competitors as a reason for not participating.
Haley has been battling with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place behind Trump.
“The first four debates have been great for our campaign and for voters, and we look forward to the fifth in Iowa,” Haley remarked in a statement, Axios said in its report. “As the debate stage continues to shrink, it’s getting harder for Donald Trump to hide.”
Trump hasn’t exactly hidden. He has opted to appear at rallies and granted select interviews.
“There’s a CNN debate? Had no idea,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Axios earlier this week. The Iowa debate appeared to be in jeopardy before Haley’s announcement because DeSantis had been the only Republican candidate to commit to the Jan. 15 event. DeSantis predicted that he will win the Iowa caucuses, which will kick off the GOP primary season.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who have participated in the previous debates, are not expected to qualify.
In order to participate in CNN’s debate next month, candidates have to be polling at 10 percent or higher in a total of three national polls or in Iowa polls and have at least one poll from the state. The event is the first one in this current primary race to not be sponsored by the Republican National Committee. It’s scheduled for Jan. 10 and will be held at Drake University in the city of Des Moines, Iowa.
And for some reason that defies logic, CNN is holding another debate on Jan. 21 at St. Anselm College in the state of New Hampshire. Haven’t we heard from these people enough already? What more can they say that we haven’t heard before? It seems excessive to have this many debates, especially with Trump obliterating his competition in the polls.
“The latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found that a majority of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers now support Trump,” the report said. “Five weeks before the first GOP presidential nominating contest, Trump earned 51% first-choice support from likely Iowa caucusgoers, according to the survey.”
Haley and DeSantis are essentially back-up candidates in case something happens that prevents Trump from participating in the primary, which is possible due to his four indictments, though unlikely.
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