Donald Trump Is Making a 'Huge Political Miscalculation' by Skipping Upcoming Republican Debate, Former Colleague Kayleigh McEnany Insists

Is Donald Trump making a mistake by skipping out on the first Republican debate on Wednesday, August 23?

Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany seems to think so, as she criticized the former president during the Monday, August 21, broadcast of the networks Outnumbered segment.

"The takeaway from that is this is a huge political miscalculation," Trump's former White House press secretary explained to viewers. "You give others the opportunity to shine. You give others two hours to throw lobs at you."

McEnany continued, "I know former President Trump can dance across the debate stage, can defend himself. But you’re not there to do it himself, you’re counting on maybe others."

The news anchor pointed out another "strategic risk" Trump faces, noting that the ex-POTUS possibly opened the floor for President Joe Biden to turn down a debate with the controversial Republican hopeful leading up to the 2024 presidential election.

McEnany's comments about Trump come after news broke that the 77-year-old would shockingly be skipping out on Fox News' first GOP debate in Milwaukee this week, instead opting for an interview on Twitter – which Elon Musk recently changed to the name X — with Tucker Carlson.

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Trump and Carlson's chat will be simultaneously broadcast on the social media site during the Republican debate, seemingly in spite of Fox after Carlson was abruptly fired from the network in April.

Trump has also had it out for the company in recent months, frequently taking to Truth Social to berate the news network.

"Fox News is going all out, just as they did in 2016, to figure out who in this very large, but failing, Republican field, can beat your favorite President, Donald John Trump," the father-of-five wrote, referring to himself in third person, on Wednesday, August 16.

"They use only the most negative polls, which are still great for me, and do everything possible to show that they still have a chance. They even pull out nice guy Marc Thiessen to do contortions with numbers that just don't exist. On top of all that, I am the only one beating, by a lot, Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST 'P' EVER!" Trump concluded.