By Jorge Luis Lopez, Esq., Conservative Analyst and Author
In just a few hours, the GOP will have an unconventional kick off to the presidential primaries with eight candidates sharing the debate stage tonight for the first time and that doesn’t include front-runner, former President Donald J. Trump. His participation, or lack thereof, could be the unforgiving popular topic of the night; benefitting only one candidate, Trump himself.
On Sunday, Trump announced he will opt out for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Trump’s attendance was unknown until Monday evening as the RNC requires qualified candidates to commit 48 hours before the debate and sign a pledge promising to support the party’s nominee. Trump has repeatedly implied that he would probably not sign the pledge in previous interviews where he has stated that he would not support certain GOP hopefuls if they were to be the nominee.
This morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, “MY INTERVIEW WITH TUCKER CARLSON WILL BE AIRED TONIGHT AT 9:00 P.M. ‘SPARKS WILL FLY.’ ENJOY!”
The interview is expected to be appear on the social media platform Twitter, now known as X, where Carlson has been posting his political analysis and interviews since Fox News fired him in April.
How will Trump’s participation affect the debate?
We now know that Trump will not be participating in tonight’s presidential debate and has insinuated that he will likely not participate in any future primary GOP debates. Trump’s decision to skip tonight’s debate and possibly all debates goes against his original strategy on being center stage.
Candidates will have no choice but to respond to Trump’s recent indictments
On top of Trump’s unprecedented support throughout the indictments, candidates’ attacks on Trump in lieu of his absence will only strengthen him and weaken them. In view of that fact, Trump will have uninterrupted air time and the ability to comment freely during the debate while candidates will have to claw their way through the noise of 8 others in a two-hour window.
Candidates will likely concentrate on attacking trump rather than realizing their strengths lie in not speaking about him at all…
Moreover, he will have his surrogates present in Milwaukee. Surrogates are said to be current congressmen and senators along side his family who are strong advocates of his vision–Don Jr. being the most popular.
Besides Trump, Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie likely to be the focus
Governor Ron DeSantis, second runner up, will be center stage and should be preparing for an onslaught of attacks having been labeled to have a terminal campaign early on in the cycle. On the other hand, this will give him the opportunity to defend his record in Florida that has had anything but good press.
Former Governor Chris Christie has become Trump’s sharpest and loudest critic for not attending tonight’s debate in an attempt to compensate for his early support of Trump’s 2016 candidacy.
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TUNE IN TONIGHT but what will you be watching? Let us know in the comments if you will be watching Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson or the debate.
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The two-hour debate will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is set to start at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. It will be hosted by Fox News Channel, with hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Moderating.
Eight candidates will be on stage: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the center; entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; former Vice President Mike Pence; former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
To appear on stage, there are a few but grueling requirements a candidate must meet to qualify for the Aug. 23 debate. These requirements are set by the Republican National Committee. Candidates must poll at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.