Trump forgoes CNN debate in favor of Fox town hall
The former president has yet to debate other Republican primary candidates.
Former President Donald Trump will participate in a Fox News town hall next week, the network announced Tuesday, skipping CNN’s GOP primary debate scheduled for the same time.
The town hall will also take place at 9 p.m. on Jan. 10 in Des Moines, Iowa, and will be moderated by Fox anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Only Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley qualified for the Iowa debate, CNN announced Tuesday after the 12 p.m. qualification deadline passed. DeSantis and Haley have both committed to participating.
With the debate field whittled down from eight candidates in August to now just three, Haley and DeSantis urged DeSantis Trump to attend.
"With only three candidates qualifying, it's time for Donald Trump to show up," said Haley in a statement after CNN's announcement. "As the debate stage continues to shrink, it's getting harder for Donald Trump to hide."
"We understand Donald Trump is scared to get on the stage because he'd have to finally explain why he didn't build the wall, added nearly $8 trillion to the debt, and turned the country over to Fauci," DeSantis campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement. "If it would make the debate more inviting, we would gladly agree to make it a seated format where the former president would be more comfortable."
Trump has bypassed each of the GOP primary debates so far, on multiple occasions conducting his own counter-programing instead. In August, he skipped a debate hosted by Baier and MacCallum to sit down for an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson.
The former president is also expected to skip CNN’s debate in New Hampshire later this month, a campaign advisor told reporters last month. Trump, who currently holds a runaway lead in the polls, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt he would debate another Republican candidate “if it’s very close.”
“I would debate that Republican, yeah. But it’s not close,” he said.