Donald Trump has confirmed he will not appear in upcoming Fox News GOP presidential debates.
There is increasing speculation that he will instead do an interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.
The former president, 77, said he will not participate in Republican party debates because “the public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I’ve had.”
“I’M SO NOT GOING TO DO THE DEBATES,” he wrote on the social media platform Truth Social on Sunday.
Republican hopefuls for the 2024 race prepare for the GOP presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday.
Donald Trump has confirmed he will not appear in Fox News GOP presidential debates
Speculation is mounting that he will instead do an interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson
Trump took to Truth Social to announce that he will not participate in the highly anticipated debate on Wednesday.
“New CBS POLL, just out, puts me ahead of the game with ‘legendary’ numbers,” he wrote.
TRUMP 62%, 46 points over DeSanctimonious (who crashes like a sick bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%.
“The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I had, with energy independence, strong borders and military, the biggest tax and regulatory cuts ever, no inflation, the strongest economy in history and much more. I WILL NOT DO THE DEBATES FOR THAT!’
The former president took aim at his rival Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second in the GOP field, saying he crashes into the posts “like a sick bird.”
In addition to Trump, the candidates who qualified for the first Republican debate are DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum.
But he reportedly plans to sit down for an online interview with Carlson instead of participating.
The New York Times reported Friday on its plan to try to beat the GOP primary field in the Fox News-sponsored debate by sitting down with the conservative network’s renegade ex-anchor.
Carlson was pushed off the network and his popular primetime show in late April and has been broadcasting via Twitter ever since.
Trump had previously hinted for months that he would reject the first debate – arguing that he is far ahead of all his competitors 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!
In the same post, Trump said that “ALL AMERICANS have been clamoring for a president of extremely high intelligence.”
Former President Donald Trump (left) will not 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)
Trump left the door slightly open on Friday to appear at Wednesday’s debate in Milwaukee, but he revealed on Sunday that he will not participate
“As everyone knows, my Poll numbers, on a ‘wonderful’ field of Republican candidates, are extraordinary,” he continued. “In fact, I’m more than 50 points ahead of second place, whoever that is.
“Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others,” Trump also said.
Trump was referring to Reagan’s 1980 decision to skip the Des Moines Register Republican debate—the first ever televised GOP debate.
In Reagan’s case, the decision momentarily backfired.
George HW had a good night and ended up winning the Iowa caucuses.
However, Reagan became the final candidate and made Bush his running mate.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump also skipped a primary debate in Iowa because — as he is now — he argued with the Fox News Channel over the network’s inclusion of moderator Megyn Kelly.
Fox News is considering showing video clips of Trump answering questions to other candidates during the upcoming GOP presidential primary debate, according to a new report.
The network’s anchors, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, will moderate the debate Wednesday in Milwaukee.
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, and is preparing to ask other candidates about Trump’s latest indictment in Georgia, the Times reported.
Former President Donald Trump participated in all but one GOP primary during the 2016 cycle
It’s unclear exactly what clips they’ll be using — and whether Fox is trying to trick Trump into appearing.
“If he’s not there, he’ll still be there,” Baier told Politico this week, alluding to the network’s strategy for a Trump no-show. “In other words, he’ll be part of the interrogation.”
“There may be sound bites, there may be elements where ‘this is what the leader of the primary is saying on this subject.’ He will be there even if he is not there,” he added.
The moderators said they have prepared questions for Trump if he is present, but that his absence will not radically change the topics they want to cover.
“For the most part, we talk about topics like buckets of questions,” Baier said. “The buckets wouldn’t change that much whether he’s in or not. Maybe some of the interaction between the candidates would change something.’
A Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com.
As Trump dominates the field and towers far above his opponents, some observers warn that a no-show could give his rivals a chance to create a viral moment and gain momentum.