Kimberly Guilfoyle and Don Jr to attend first Republican debate in Trump’s absence as candidates prepare to clash in Milwaukee

Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. will attend the first Republican debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday to campaign for absent Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for the couple confirmed to DailyMail.com that they would be at the event. It is unclear if they will be in the audience, but the two will speak to the media before and after the debate.

Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will attend neither the first nor second Republican primary debates — both sponsored by Fox News — despite qualifying for the event and leading the polls for the GOP presidential nomination.

The former president will instead talk online with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who is still under contract and paid by Fox despite his show being taken off the air.

The interview was already recorded.

Trump will have enough surrogates on the ground in Milwaukee to speak on his behalf.

In addition to his eldest son Don Jr and his fiancé Guilfoyle, as first reported by the Daily Caller, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kari Lake speak for the former president.

Don Jr. and Guilfoyle have long supported the former president. They have stood by him through his legal troubles and sat front row at Mar-a-Lago in April when Donald Trump refuted legal charges against him.

Although Donald Trump has said he will not be on the debate stage, his presence will be felt.

Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum have said they plan to ask the other contenders about the many charges against the former president.

“How the other candidates respond to it will be interesting,” said Baier, the network’s chief political anchor and anchor and executive editor of Special Report.

“In the GOP primaries, we’ve seen these charges raise his polls, increase his fundraising,” Baier said. deadline. “How others react to it and how differently they approach it will be part of this primary and this debate.”

Former President Donald Trump (left) does not plan to attend the first Republican primary debate and will instead likely sit down for an online interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson (right)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (seen above at a Trump rally earlier this year) will also be in Milwaukee to support Donald Trump

Don Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle have long supported the former president — above all, they stand in the front row (center) at Mar-a-Lago in April with Melania’s father Victor Knavs, Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos

The final slate for the debate phase will be laid Monday evening, so Trump still has time to change his mind.

But he has argued that he doesn’t need to stand next to the other contenders for the Republican presidential nominations who are trailing him heavily in the polls.

“A lot of people ask if I’m going to do the DEBATES?” he posted on Truth Social Friday. ‘People know my record, one of the BEST EVER, so why debate? I’M YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

If Trump counterprograms the debate by appearing with Carlson, it would spark an epic battle for viewers during the primary season’s first major event.

In response, the Fox team is considering integrating Trump video clips into their debate questions, according to the New York Times.

Trump was indicted for the fourth time last week. This time, he faces charges in Georgia for interfering in the 2020 state election results. He also faces federal charges in two cases — one for classified documents in his possession and one for election interference — plus charges in New York related paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels

Meanwhile, Republican 2024 race hopefuls prepare for the GOP presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday.

The other candidates who qualified are Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum. Asa Hutchinson, Francis Suarez and Perry Johnson have claimed eligibility, but the Republican National Committee has not confirmed they have met all qualifications.

To participate in the debate, candidates must meet a donor threshold (40,000 individual contributors, including 200 each from 20 states) and a polling threshold (at least 1 percent support in three qualifying national polls, or two qualifying national polls plus qualifying polls from two states with early voting: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). They must also sign a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, whoever it is.