Trump reveals he skipped the debate because he didn’t want to waste two hours being ‘harassed by people who shouldn’t be running’- and he’s ‘already leading by ’50 and 60 points and some of them are at 1 and 0’

Former President Donald Trump told interviewer Tucker Carlson that he skipped the first Republican presidential debate so he wouldn’t be “bothered” by rivals he said didn’t deserve to run.

He made this comment at the top of a 46-minute interview in which he said he skipped the forum to avoid giving other Republicans a chance to wave at him, acknowledging that it was a defensive move to rely on his lead. sit down.

“But you see, the polls are out and I’m ahead by 50 to 60 points. And you know, some of them are on one and zero and two. And I say, “Should I sit there for an hour or two, whatever it will be, and be harassed by people who shouldn’t even be running for president. Should I do that?” Trump told Carlson.

He made this comment after onstage rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, chided him for skipping the minus event.

Carlson posted the interview to his Twitter account, now known as X, just as the first Republican presidential debate was getting underway on Fox — a network Trump decried in his remarks, calling it “a network that’s not particularly friendly to me.” . Honestly, you know, they were crazy back in Ron Desanctimonious, and now they’ve given him up,” he said, using his insult to DeSantis.

“I mean, it’s a lost cause,” Trump said one night when DeSantis was looking for a breakout moment. DeSantis previously said Trump “owes it to people” to participate in the debate.

Trump said the situation reminded him of the 2016 campaign, where he said he had to fight, but the network “got very friendly after I won.”

“But I felt it would be more appropriate not to have the debate. I don’t think it’s right to do this,” he said.

He pointed to the results of his polls, although he exaggerated by claiming it was 70 percent. “And I have eight people, ten people, whoever did the debate, I don’t know how many, but I make all these people scream at me and shout questions at me? I enjoy answering all of them – I enjoy doing them – but there is no point in doing them. So I took a pass, you probably noticed,” he told Carlson.

The comments came in an interview in which Trump called his critics “savages” and claimed his opponents would try again to “steal” the election ahead of his interview with Tucker Carlson — which will take place at the same time as the Republican presidential debate.

Former Fox News host Carlson asked the former president if the US is headed for civil war and if he fears his enemies want to kill him.

Trump told Carlson he doesn’t think President Joe Biden “will make it” when asked about his health, and also accused Mitch McConnell of trying to rally support to impeach him.

“Are you afraid they’re going to try to kill you?” is just one of the explosive questions Carlson asks him in an interview at Trump’s home base at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

“Do you think we’re headed for civil war?” was another, along with, “What happened to Mike Pence?”

That’s a reference to Trump’s former vice president, who is in the debate, polling low single digits but strenuously denying Trump’s claims that he had the ability to reject votes cast on January 6. certified by the states.

Trump said McConnell was “trying to get senators to impeach me.”

“I don’t think he’s going to make it through the gate, but you never know,” he says of President Joe Biden, 80, in a comment that seems to indicate he believes his main rival will not survive.

Biden’s own campaign team denounced the interview before coming out as a “softball” interview touting “conspiracy theories.”

“It’s wild animals, it’s people who are sick,” Trump says of his enemies in the clip.

“There’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen,” he adds.

The prime-time drama comes hours before Trump plans to surrender Thursday to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, to be processed and have his mug shot taken, after being charged with racketeering conspiracy related to his election efforts in the state.

The first snippets seem to indicate that Trump was able to take free shots — without a moderator cutting his time, or another candidate trying to push back his own record or tenure.

“Crooked Joe Biden is so bad he’s the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump says in the clip, in a sentence that could have come from the Truth Social platform he owns.

His interview with Carlson took place in a carefully selected location on X, a platform owned by Elon Musk, who restored Trump’s suspended Twitter account.

Carlson was fired from Fox following a massive settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the network for spreading election conspiracy theories about its equipment. The company settled for $787 million.

On Wednesday, the network will try to lure viewers to the prime time debate in Milwaukee, in a swing state that Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020.

In texts released during the lawsuit, it was revealed that Carlson wrote on January 4, 2020:

“We are very, very close to ignoring Trump most nights. I really can’t wait.’ Then he wrote, “I hate him passionately.”

But his platform benefits both men. Carlson is able to fix himself while displacing the network that jettisoned him, while still paying his hefty salary. Trump is allowed to be on the air without rivals gaining an advantage over him.

Carlson also asked Trump why he was not at the debate. Rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have characterized him as afraid to show up. Trump has said he had a big head start and it was not necessary.