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President Donald Trump stated on Newsmax that he would be “announcing something next week” regarding his decision on whether he will attend the GOP primary debates.
As the dominant Republican primary candidate in the 2024 race for the White House, he has publicly discussed the pros and cons of potentially attending the Republican debates.
During his interview this week with Newsmax, he explained, “Well, when you’re at 75, 80 percent and other guys are at ZERO, one percent, two percent, three percent – you do say, what’s the upside?”
He also said he would not sign the RNC’s requested loyalty pledge.
“I have a problem with the debate for another reason,” he explained. “I wouldn’t sign the pledge.”
In the past week, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., signed the RNC’s loyalty pledge, which they call the “Beat Biden Pledge.”
In it, GOP candidates promise to support the eventual Republican nominee in 2024, even if they are not the winner of the primary.
Further, the pledge requires candidates to promise they will not run as an Independent or third-party candidate.
Trump continued, “Why would do that [debate], when you’re leading by so much? Ronald Reagan didn’t do it. Nixon didn’t do it. Many people didn’t do it, and I’m going to look at it very seriously. I’d LIKE to do it – I’ve actually gotten very good marks on debating talents. But, they [the people] want a smart person. They want somebody who’s going to be smart. So, we have to do the smart thing.”
In the latest data from Morning Consult’s 2024 Republican Primary Tracker, they found that President Trump was leading in the GOP race by a whopping 43 points over Gov. DeSantis.
Trump won the lion’s share of nationwide GOP voters with 59 percent support, while DeSantis snagged 16 percent. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy earned 8 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence won 6 percent.
