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WASHINGTON − Dragging out debate drama for as long as he can, former President Donald Trump is now asking supporters whether he should attend the first Republican confrontation this month.
Trump and his campaign are using the “will he or won’t he” question as part of a fundraising pitch, urging donors to “please take my poll on whether you think I should show up to the Republican primary debate.”
“We’re outraising the entire field. We have more support from the grassroots than anyone else – and it’s not even close,” Trump said in an email Sunday to supporters, citing his lead in polling and fundraising over his Republican rivals.
The first in a series of Republican debates is scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
‘Foolish for me’
Trump has also taken to asking supporters at campaign events whether he should debate after months of suggesting that he would skip the proceedings.
On the stump and in his fundraising pitch, Trump has cited his big lead in GOP polls and said struggling rivals shouldn’t be given such a chance to attack him in a public forum.
The thrice-indicted Trump has also said “I’m in a battle for my freedom” and the Biden administration wants “to throw me in JAIL for life.”
“So, I think it’s sort of foolish for me to go to the Republican debate,” Trump said in the email.
‘Coward’?
For weeks, Trump’s opponents − and officials with Fox News, which is broadcasting the debate − have urged Trump to show up to the first Republican faceoff.
Some campaign rivals, seeing the debate as their best chance to cut into Trump’s lead, are trying to goad him into going to Milwaukee.
“If Trump doesn’t show up to the debates, he’s a coward,” Chris Christie said over the weekend on X, formerly Twitter, a line the former governor of New Jersey has used frequently.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is in a distant second in most polls, told Newsmax last month that Trump should debate because “nobody is entitled to be nominated; you’ve got to earn it. And I think he should show up and make his case and answer questions like the rest of us.”
A second Republican debate is scheduled for Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Trump has suggested he will skip that one as well.
It seems clear that the former president will try to drag out the suspense right up to the day of the first debate, which is two weeks from Wednesday.
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