Will the stunt work?
Former President Trump does not want to debate the other candidates in the Republican presidential primary. That much is clear. He has said all along that he shouldn’t be expected to participate because he is so far ahead in polls.
Trump, who used to poo-poo polls, now lives by them. He is fond of exaggerating his lead but it is substantial in most polls. The truth is Trump feels entitled to the nomination and doesn’t expect to have to work for it.
Voters, other than Trump’s most loyal core supporters, are ready for another candidate to come forward. They do not want another Biden-Trump match-up, fearing that Trump will lose. It’s a logical fear, given that Trump lost in 2020. He has failed to win back independent voters, without whom he cannot win in 2024.
Most Americans, including many Democrats, are sympathetic to the fact that the multiple indictments of Trump is a pretty solid case that the United States has a two-tiered system of justice. The corrupt Biden crime family is a good example. The press only expresses interest in covering any of that mess when it can no longer ignore it. Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was so over-the-top that legacy news channels had to report about it.
The New York Times reports that Trump is planning to sit down for an online interview with his friend Tucker Carlson instead of doing the debate.
