Senior advisors to former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign are calling on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to cancel its third scheduled debate on Nov. 8.
In an Oct. 2 statement posted on President Trump’s election website, advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita say the RNC should cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and “end all future debates to focus its manpower on preventing Democrat’s efforts to steal the 2024 election.”
According to Ms. Wiles and Mr. LaCivita, denying their request would prove that the RNC is ignoring the concerns about election integrity being raised by GOP voters.
“Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election,” the statement said.
The two-sentence announcement referred to the widely held sentiment among Republicans that COVID-19 allowances not approved by state legislatures made room for significant cheating in the 2020 election—issues that they do not see as having been addressed ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections.
Trumpless GOP Debates
President Trump skipped the first two RNC debates.
Five minutes before the first debate began, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired an interview with President Trump on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
In the interview, President Trump revealed he had no interest in attending the Aug. 23 debate hosted by Fox News.
In his view, he holds such a commanding lead in the polls that attending would make little difference to his chances of success, and his time could be better invested elsewhere.
“I’m leading them by 50 points and 60 points. Some of them are at one and zero, and two,” he told Mr. Carlson.
President Trump further stated that he had little desire to be “harassed” by people who he believes shouldn’t be running for president, or appearing on Fox News, which he said has been hostile to him in the past.
Tucker Carlson speaks with former president Donald Trump in a pre-recorded interview aired on debate night on Aug. 23, 2023. Tucker Carlson/X
During the second debate on Sept. 27, President Trump opted to visit Detroit, where the United Auto Workers (UAW) union had launched a labor strike against America’s three biggest automakers: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
Mr. LaCivita confirmed on Sept. 27 to reporters, including The Epoch Times’ Janice Hisle, that President Trump has no plans to attend any future Republican presidential debates.
“He said he’s not going to attend the debates, plural. And that’s his position—until it’s not,” the advisor said at the time.
He added that, in his view, the debates had become more like a contest for “who’s going to be the designated survivor.”
Regardless, opting out of the debates appears to have had little effect on President Trump’s commanding lead in support. One poll even showed him increasing his lead.
Following the first debate, a survey of 1,250 respondents conducted by Morning Consult showed 58 percent would still stick with President Trump as the Republican presidential nomination.
The next closest candidate was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in second among prospective voters in the poll, with 14 percent of respondents picking him.
In the more recent CNN’s Poll of Polls, President Trump still has 58 percent support compared to Mr. DeSantis with 15 percent.
According to CNN, the Poll of Polls data was taken from an average of five national surveys conducted from Sept. 7 to Sept. 24.
Stephen Katte
Author
Stephen Katte is a freelance journalist at The Epoch Times. Follow him on X @SteveKatte1
