Last-Minute GOP Debate Plans Crumbling as Candidates Opt Out

A GOP debate slated to occur days before the Iowa caucuses appears to be falling apart as candidates take a page out of President Trump’s playbook and refuse to commit to participating in the event.CNN originally planned to hold a debate on January 10, five days ahead of the Iowa caucuses on January 15, as a de facto final chance for candidates to sway voters ahead of the first-in-the-nation GOP primary contest.Now, however, it looks like the debate is falling apart because Governor DeSantis is so far the only candidate who both qualifies for the debate and plans to be there.The former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has thus far refused to commit to appearing on the debate stage, though she has also called out Mr. Trump for refusing to debate.“When it comes to President Trump as well, I think he’s going to have to get on a debate stage here in Iowa because you’re fighting for Iowans’ votes,” Ms. Haley told a local Iowa TV station, KTIV, last week. “I think he’s got to sit there and do the groundwork.”Ms. Haley’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Sun.No other candidates have qualified for the Iowa CNN debate, which requires candidates to poll at 10 percent in three national or Iowa statewide polls. Only Ms. Haley, Mr. DeSantis, and Mr. Trump qualify under those conditions.The Iowa debate is not the first unofficial GOP debate to hit a speed bump in the past week. CNN had also planned to hold a January 21 debate at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College, only they neglected to tell the school.“We were surprised to be included on a press release by a network about a debate which we had not planned or booked,” the director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm said in a statement.The fresh debate drama comes after the Republican National Committee decided last week to pause officially sanctioned debates and to allow candidates to participate in unofficial debates.Though the political press closely covered the fourth GOP debate last week, the event also left analysts and commentators wondering whether the debates this year will have much of an effect on the primary, which Mr. Trump has solidified his lead in over the past six months.Viewership of the fourth Republican debate also plummeted to 4 million viewers from 7 million in the third debate, 9 million in the second debate, and nearly 13 million in the first debate.In Iowa, Mr. Trump now leads Mr. DeSantis by 27 points, 47 percent to 20 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average. Ms. Haley enjoys 15 percent there.At New Hampshire, Mr. Trump leads Ms. Haley by 26 points, 45 percent to 19 percent. Mr. DeSantis enjoys 7.7 percent there. Governor Christie is in third place in the Granite State at 12 percent.

Last-Minute GOP Debate Plans Crumbling as Candidates Opt Out

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