NEWS‘Not Watchable': Donald Trump Plans on Skipping Next Republican Primary Debate in Alabama
Former President Donald Trump skipped the third presidential primary debate on Wednesday, November 8, and held a rally only 10 miles away where he announced that he's not planning on attending the next one either.
The Republican candidates at the RNC debate.
“They’re not watchable,” Trump said to a crowd of his supporters at a rally in Miami. “You know, the last debate was the lowest-rated debate in the history of politics, so therefore, do you think we did the right thing by not participating?”
The crowd cheered in support of the ex-prez's decision.
The debate continued with the five other qualifying candidates: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron Desantis, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and business mogul Vivek Ramaswamy.
Donald Trump skipped the November debate.
It was the third debate Trump has decided to skip in favor of doing his own event. This decision has had little impact on the former president's lead amongst likely Republican voters.
According to Real Clear Politics, Trump is averaging at around 58.5% with likely Republican voters, while in a distant second place, DeSantis sits 44.1 points behind at 14.4%. Haley is in third place at 9% and Ramaswamy currently holds fourth place at 4.7%.
All other candidates still in the race are polling at 2% or less.
Trump does not plan to attend the next Republican debate.
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Trump pushed back against rumors that he was "afraid" of debating his rivals, telling the crowd Wednesday night, "Somebody said — one of the dumber ones — ‘Oh, he doesn’t have the courage to stand up ... Well listen, I’m standing in front of tens of thousands of people right now, and it’s on television. That’s a hell of a lot harder to do than a debate."
Shortly after the rally ended, Trump’s top aide, Chris LaCivita, told reporters Trump would not be participating in the fourth debate in December in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
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The Tuesday elections, which saw GOP losses in Kentucky and Virginia as well as a major victory for abortion rights in Ohio, loomed over the debate.
Trump blamed the loss of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron on his relationship with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — despite the former president endorsing Cameron himself. He also took credit for the reelection of Governor Tate Reeves in the Mississippi.
The RNC announced that NewsNation, "The Megyn Kelly Show," the Washington Free Beacon and Rumble would be partners for the fourth debate.
The moderators for the debate are scheduled to be Megyn Kelly, NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, who is the editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon.
Politico provided quotes used in this article.
