Former President Donald Trump is going to take a hard pass on showing up at the first Republican Party primary debate on Aug. 23 and will instead be conducting an interview with popular conservative host Tucker Carlson, according to a report released by the New York Times on Friday. There’s a fairly good reason for Trump’s decision to pass on the upcoming debate as well. We’ll talk more about that in a bit.
According to the Daily Caller, the news organization that was co-founded by Carlson, “Trump has long teased whether he would attend the first debate, testing out the proposal with his supporters at campaign rallies, The NYT reported. Fox executives previously attempted to coax him onto the stage, as the former president reportedly waffled on the topic during private discussions with his advisers.”
Back in July, Trump decided not to appear with Tucker Carlson onstage in Iowa when several other candidates fielded questions concerning their presidential campaigns. Recently, the former Fox News host interviewed Vivek Ramaswamy on his new show, streaming on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. Does that remind anyone of Prince back when he was the “artist formerly known as Prince?” Or did I just date myself?
Ep. 17 Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He's worth listening to. pic.twitter.com/9wGqptHdto
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 17, 2023
“Carlson departed Fox News in April after the network settled for over $787 million in a lawsuit with Dominion. Trump came out in support of Carlson at the time of his firing. Trump’s decision to sit down with Carlson is a major affront to Fox News’ coverage of the Republican primary race, The NYT reported. Further speculation also implies the former president may skip the second primary debate held later in the year, according to the outlet,” the Daily Caller reported.
One of the reasons that Trump has opted out of the debate is due to the Republican Party’s requirement for candidates to participate. Those who want to be part of the debate must sign a pledge to throw their support behind the eventual GOP nominee, no matter who that individual might be, if they should lose. Trump said he would not sign such a pledge because he refuses to support a candidate that might not actually hold to conservatives values and policies.
He’s not the only candidate who isn’t taking the pledge all that serious. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stated that he would sign the pledge, however, might choose not to fulfill it depending on who the candidate is.
This is really just Trump saying he’s not going to compromise on his values and beliefs. Some will disagree with this take by pointing out that anyone, even a dead salamander, would be a better president than Biden and that our nation won’t survive a second term with him in office. This is true. We definitely need to ensure that Biden is not reelected, no matter what.
However, you can’t blame Trump for not wanting to compromise. If we as conservatives hadn’t made so many concessions in the past and accepted the status quo of the Republican establishment, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in right now.
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