Will Donald Trump skip the first Republican debate?: The former president, just as he did during the 2016 primaries, is threatening to skip a Fox-hosted presidential debate, because he’s unhappy with the network.
Donald Trump vs. Fox News
Back in 2015, Donald Trump had a well-publicized run-in with then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who was a moderator for the cycle’s first Republican presidential debate.
After Kelly pointed out to Trump that “you’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” Trump objected, and days later, he made his infamous comment about how “there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
A few months later, in January 2016, Trump sat out a Fox-hosted debate after the network refused to go along with his demand that Kelly be replaced as moderator. Trump did return for another Fox debate that March.
Seven years have since passed, with Trump and Fox’s relationship waxing and waning various times during his presidency and after. But now, Trump is once again threatening to skip a Fox-hosted debate.
The threat came earlier this week on Truth Social.
“So FoxNews, which is down 37% in the Ratings, doesn’t cover my getting the “Man of the Decade” Award (because of my great trade policies!) in Michigan, or my Keynote Speech for Faith & Freedom in D.C., and then wants me to show up and get them ratings for their “Presidential” Debate, where I’m leading the field by 40 points,” Trump said in the post. “All they do is promote, against all hope, Ron DeSanctimonious, and he’s dropping like a rock. Sorry FoxNews, life doesn’t work that way!!!”
The “Man of the Decade” award came from the Oakland County Republican Party in Michigan; that is not the type of speech that would typically be covered by any presidential candidate. Also, the “Man of the Decade” award is not to be confused with “Michigan Man of the Year,” an award Trump has claimed multiple times to have once won, despite it not being a real award. Fox did cover the Man of the Decade honor on the Fox News website, despite not carrying the speech live on television.
Fox is scheduled to host the first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle in August.
It is a question of whether Trump will want to jeopardize his huge lead by debating.
According to an NBC News poll released Monday, in which Republican primary voters were asked their first choice for president. Trump leads the contest with 51 percent in the poll, followed by Gov. Ron DeSantis with 22 percent. Former Vice President Mike Pence is third with 7 percent, former Gov. Chris Christie next with 5 percent, followed by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley with 4 percent, Sen. Tim Scott with 3 percent.
Trump’s lead over DeSantis in April had been only 46 percent against 31 percent, which came before both the former president’s federal indictment, and DeSantis’ formal entry into the race. This indicates that actually running for president hasn’t helped the Florida governor all that much.
“For the first time in history, a former president has been indicted, and we can’t find a marker in this survey that it’s had an impact with his standing,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted the poll along with his Democratic partner Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates.
“Not only are they sticking with Trump post-federal indictment,” Horwitt said. “There are several signs that his support is growing or others are losing ground, particularly Ron DeSantis.”
At the same time, the NBC poll found Trump behind President Biden by 4 percent, although that figure was within the margin of error.
“Something has to happen to shift this race,” Horwitt said in NBC’s release of the poll, although the voting does not get underway until January, and a lot can happen between now and then.
Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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