Donald Trump’s campaign says the former president has already won the first GOP presidential debate — even though he’ll be a no-show.
Mr. Trump is passing on the chance to stand on stage with the Republicans running against him for the party’s presidential nomination, citing his dominance in the polls and suggesting he has more to lose than gain.
“President Trump has already won this evening’s debate because everything is going to be about him,” Chris LaCivita, a senior strategist for the Trump campaign, in an email. “In fact, tonight’s Republican undercard event really shouldn’t even be called a debate, but rather an audition to be a part of President Trump’s team in his second term.”
The debate Wednesday in Milwaukee is being hosted by Fox News. Eight candidates have won invites from the Republican National Committee after reaching polling and donation thresholds.
Mr. LaCivita said the moderators from Fox News will “show an unnatural obsession with President Trump tonight, asking other Republican candidates over and over to react to President Trump’s policy positions.”
“In fact, we will be tallying the number of times President Trump’s name is brought up and his total ’speaking time,’ even though he is not in attendance,” he said, adding, “When the other candidates do get a chance to speak, they will be a faint echo, or maybe even a copycat, of President Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda.”
The prime-time event was unfolding at a moment of reckoning for the Republican Party.
Mr. Trump is now the prohibitive early front-runner in the race, raising serious questions about whether the party will have much of a competitive primary. Yet his vulnerabilities in a general election are clear, particularly in the wake of four criminal indictments that charge him with everything from hoarding classified documents, conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and making hush money payments to a porn actress and other women.
The debate was taking place a day before Mr. Trump is set to travel to Georgia to again be booked on criminal charges.
Mr. Trump had long said he felt it would be foolish to participate, given his dominant lead in the race. But his decision to boycott is nonetheless a blow to Fox News, which had wooed him privately and publicly on air to appear. Instead, Mr. Trump prerecorded an interview with ex-Fox host Tucker Carlson that was expected to be broadcast on the platform formerly known as Twitter as the debate took place.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is among the long list of Trump supporters who traveled to Milwaukee to back him in his absence, called Wednesday’s debate “a waste of time” given Mr. Trump’s lead in polls.
“It’s pointless,” she said. “He’s over 40 points ahead … I believe the primaries are over. … We’re just watching people try out for the cabinet.”
Most of the GOP field has been reluctant to attack Mr. Trump on the campaign trail so far. But some, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have been vocal in their opposition. Former Vice President Mike Pence has criticized Mr. Trump over his efforts to overturn the election, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has positioned himself as the most anti-Trump candidate and called the former president a “coward” for refusing to participate in the debate.
— This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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