President Donald Trump will not be gracing the stage after all at next week’s Republican presidential primary debate.
According to sources close to the former president, Trump will now sit down for an interview with conservative Tucker Carlson instead. The New York Times reported Friday of the unprecedented move.
Trump’s participation in the debate had been asked for by Fox News executives on the behalf of the Republican National Committee during a dinner held earlier this month. The updated rules for the GOP’s 2024 debates would require any participants to sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee, no matter who it may be.
The President’s decision not to attend the Milwaukee, Wisconsin event seems to be in line with what he told Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs last week: “I don’t want to sign a pledge, because there are three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president.”
Trump’s shunning of panel events is nothing new; during his 2016 presidential campaign, he opted out of a Fox News debate in January.
The Trump-Carlson team-up, however, has been raising both eyebrows and concerns in the political world. Trump will likely steal some of the spotlight away from the debate and further monopolize conservative media, which he holds dear.
The Daily Mail claims that Carlson was at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey this week, though his presence is yet to be officially confirmed.
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