Secret Service ‘sweeps’ site of Alabama debate teasing possibility of a surprise guest – as front-running Trump camp insists former president will NOT participate
- Trump ‘will not attend’ the fourth debate in Tuscaloosa
- According to a source, Secret Service agents inspected the debate facility
- Trump has kept the audience guessing about previous debates
According to a source, the US Secret Service has conducted a security sweep of the Alabama location where the next presidential debate showdown will take place. This raises the prospect of a dramatic return from a front-runner who has kept himself out of the arena.
A source familiar with the Alabama debate, which was scheduled to take place in Tuscaloosa on December 6, alerted DailyMail.com to the precautions.
“Donald Trump is the only candidate who has a Secret Service, and we were told that the Secret Service searched the debate hall in Alabama,” the source said.
A source familiar with the Trump campaign’s planning had “no idea” why the Secret Service would inspect the building, but stated unequivocally: “President Trump will not attend the next debate.”
That seems to make a Trump appearance at the fourth debate highly unlikely. But Trump likes to keep the public guessing and could change his mind. That’s what he did in 2016 when he ultimately decided not to participate in a Fox News debate hosted by then-Fox host Megyn Kelly.
Until December? Former President Trump “will not attend the next debate,” a source told DailyMail.com, although another source said the Secret Service has been canvassing the arena for the next presidential debate.
Trump then complained that networks were profiting from TV ratings boosted by his performance, and he had a tough time questioning Fox during the first televised debate of that cycle, where he memorably clashed with Kelly.
Instead, he held his own event that he dedicated to raising money for veterans. (A federal judge later ordered him $2 million in damages alleging that the Trump Foundation misused funds).
The Dec. 6 debate will take place in the Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and Kelly will be one of the moderators, which would add drama to any Trump return.
The fourth GOP debate will take place on December 6 at the Frank Moody Music Building at the University of
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She now has a show on Sirius XM. Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation and Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon will also moderate.
The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment. None of the Republican candidates set to take the stage are believed to have Secret Service protection, which the agency usually appoints based on its own criteria later in the primaries.
If the agency had assessed the site, it would have played an exploratory role. It searches areas for potential threats only if a facility can be kept “clean” for a security period, and this usually involves multiple officers, dogs and technological equipment.
It seems unlikely that the polls will convince Trump to change course now. Last week he led Nikki Haley by 28 percentage points in a New Hampshire poll, and on Tuesday he led Ron DeSantis, his closest rival, by as much as 51 percentage points in a new poll. Messenger/Harris Survey. In that poll, Trump was at 62 percent.
Trump has also refused to sign the RNC’s “loyalty pledge” to support the eventual winner.