Canceles GOP presidential debate – refuses to participate without Trump

Nikki Haley, who is expected to do well in New Hampshire, will not compete without the front-runner.

-We had plans to hold a debate after the Iowa primaries, but we knew that would depend on the candidates and the results there, says a spokesman for ABC, which was scheduled to hold the debate.

The next state in the primaries is New Hampshire, on January 23. It is expected that many independent voters will favor Healy.

In this context, ABC was scheduled to hold a debate on Thursday of this week between the candidates competing for votes in the state.

It will therefore be canceled now, after neither Nikki Haley nor Donald Trump will participate.

-We had four good debates this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has shot down all four. He no longer had places to hide. The next debate I will have will be either with Donald Trump, or with Joe Biden. I look to the future.

That's what presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said Tuesday, after she finished third in the campaign's first primary in Iowa, just behind Ron DeSantis — and far behind former President Donald Trump.

However, Trump has no plans to participate in any debate. He has said in the past that he doesn't see the point: everyone already knows who he is, and he's leading by a wide margin in all the polls.

Nikki Haley for VG: – Don't let me get distracted from Trump

However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who came in second place in Iowa, was ready for the debate stage. So was former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, before he withdrew from the campaign last week. On Tuesday, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchison also dropped out of the race to become the next Republican presidential nominee.

DeSantis has strongly disagreed with Haley's refusal to debate.

– She is afraid of discussion because she does not want to answer difficult questions. In fact, she is not trying to be a presidential candidate, but rather trying to be Trump's vice president. He writes on X, formerly Twitter.