The former president is the early front-runner in the race, raising questions if the Republican party will have a competitive primary.
MILWAUKEEHe’ll be missing from the stage, but Donald Trump will still be a central figure at the first Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday night as the remaining candidates hoping to take on President Joe Biden confront each other in person for the first time.
Beyond DeSantis, the debate will include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.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.
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 the network, which had wooed him privately and publicly on air to appear. Instead, Trump has pre-recorded an interview with ex-Fox host Tucker Carlson that is expected to be broadcast on the platform formerly known as Twitter as the debate takes place.
In a memo sent to donors and supporters over the weekend, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier said they "are fully prepared for Governor DeSantis to be the center of attacks" because, he said, "this is a two-man race for the Republican nomination between Governor DeSantis and Donald Trump." Ken Cuccinelli, a leader of Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting DeSantis, maintained that DeSantis remains best positioned among Trump’s rivals to outlast him and framed the debate as a chance for DeSantis to speak directly to viewers at home.
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