Trump advisers request RNC cancel third debate and circle the wagons around him
Mabinty Quarshie
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Senior advisers on former President Donald Trump‘s reelection campaign called on the Republican National Committee to cancel the GOP primary date scheduled for early next month.
The request comes after Trump snubbed the first two debates in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, California, and his campaign confirmed he would skip the third debate in Miami on Nov. 8.
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“The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election,” Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote in a statement sent out late Monday night.
“Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election,” the advisers continued.
In the previous two debates, Trump participated in counterprogramming efforts to distract attention from his GOP competitors. During the Milwaukee debate, Trump released a prerecorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. During last week’s Simi Valley debate, the former president chose to give a prime-time speech to striking United Auto Workers in Michigan. It is unclear what counterprogramming Trump will engage in if the third debate goes on as expected.
Despite Biden’s win in 2020, Trump has consistently maintained that the election was “stolen” from him. His alleged efforts to overturn the election are at the center of at least two of the four criminal cases, one in federal court in Washington, D.C., and the other in Georgia, he now faces.
Trump remains the indisputable front-runner in the GOP primary race, leading his rivals by double digits in national polls. He currently maintains 56.5% support in a RealClearPolitics poll average, far above his top rival Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is at 13.7%. His dominance in the polls is one of the key reasons Trump points to as proof he doesn’t need to participate in debates.
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DeSantis’s team pushed back against the statement from the Trump campaign on Tuesday morning, claiming the former president couldn’t defend his record to the public.
“Donald Trump should defend his record to the American people and debate Ron DeSantis on their vision and specific plans to stop American decline and restore our country,” wrote Bryan Griffin, a DeSantis campaign spokesman. “But Trump knows he can’t defend his record, and he isn’t the fighter he was in 2016. America needs a President who will fight for them anywhere, in any forum. That President will be @RonDeSantis.”