Donald Trump has already declared himself a no-show for the first GOP primary debate this week, but that doesn’t mean the former president won’t be elbowing for room in the spotlight.
Eight candidates qualified to participate in Wednesday’s debate, giving each of the presidential hopefuls an opportunity to distinguish themselves among a crowded field and position themselves as the party’s best chance to win the White House in 2024. However, some GOP leaders have already brushed off the debate as unnecessary due to Trump’s commanding poll numbers — with the former president citing that as a main reason not to participate.
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Instead, the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again PAC has launched a new website promoting the event as the “2024 Vice Presidential Debate” — suggesting the candidates are campaigning to be Trump’s running mate.
The website features all eight of the candidates slated to appear on Wednesday (Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, and Mike Pence) and asks viewers to vote on who they would prefer Trump to pick as his No. 2. It also attaches short profiles for each of the candidates that includes previous quotes endorsing Trump ahead of the 2020 election.
“Donald Trump has always put America first. He has earned four more years as President,” the quote under Haley reads, referring to a comment she made in August 2020.
“I think that Donald Trump has done a better job appointing judges to both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Appeals Court than any other president in my lifetime, including one of my heroes Ronald Reagan,” the quote for DeSantis reads, pointing to comments he made during a gubernatorial debate in 2018.
Trump announced on Sunday he would not participate in the debates, citing his dominance in early polling as evidence that his presence would be unnecessary.
The decision came just hours after CBS News released a new poll showing Trump leading the field by nearly 50 percentage points, with roughly 62% of voters saying they’d back the former president. DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, came in at a distant second with 16%, and no other candidate managed to garner double-digit support.
“New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
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Instead, Trump is planning to promote counterprogramming scheduled at the same time as the debates in an effort to siphon away voters’ attention.
The event is set to begin at 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday in Milwaukee and will be broadcast by Fox News, which is hosting the debate. It will be moderated by Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.