Trump may consider participating in future primary debates.
Former President Donald Trump Considers Participating in Future GOP Primary Debates
In an interview on Thursday, former President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of joining future GOP primary debates, marking a shift from his previous reluctance to engage with his 2024 rivals on stage.
Trump notably skipped the first Republican National Committee and Fox News-sponsored debate, opting instead for a prerecorded interview with ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Trump’s Growing Support Amidst Indictments
However, Trump’s stance seemed to change during his appearance on the Todd Starnes’ radio show. When asked if he anticipated participating in debates, Trump responded, “I might. I mean, you know, it’s possible. I liked debating. I guess I won because of the debates. You know, they’ve been very good to me. So I might. But at this moment, I’m leading by so much that it seems to be foolish to do it.”
Earlier this month, a source familiar with Trump’s thinking revealed that his decision to skip the first debate only applied to the first two debates, leaving room for him to reconsider and attend future ones.
Trump’s change of heart coincides with a recent Emerson College poll, which showed a six-percentage-point drop in his support after skipping the debate. Prior to the debate, Trump had garnered 56% of Republican support, but that number decreased to 50% in its aftermath.
Nevertheless, Trump remains the current front-runner in the primary race, with 53.6% support according to a RealClearPolitics poll average.
During the radio show interview, the former president also boasted about the record-breaking viewership of his interview with Carlson. “It got good reviews. But more than anything, it got numbers that, the biggest numbers in history,” he added.
It is worth noting, however, that Twitter views do not adhere to the same standards as the primary debate on Fox News and Fox Business Network, which attracted 12.8 million viewers.
Trump also took the opportunity to criticize Fox News when asked about the network’s recent coverage. In response to a question about Steve Doocy’s claim that Trump’s polling numbers had slipped after skipping the debate, Trump stated, “Well, he’s incorrect because most of the polls, and I’m way ahead in Emerson, too, but most of the polls literally have me going up a lot since the debate, if you can call it that. They’ll pick one poll where if you go down a little bit, they’ll use that one poll, but they won’t use 15 polls or a lot of the polls where you go up. But we’ve gone up very substantially, and we’ve gone up in just about every state.”
The next Republican debate is scheduled for September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California.
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