Trump To Skip First GOP Debate For Live Chat With Tucker Carlson

After weeks of teasing his followers, Donald Trump has reportedly decided to skip the first Republican presidential debate next Wednesday. According to reports, he will instead sit for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson during the same time slot as the debate on Fox News. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1692581353882026159 From the New York Times:

In the past 24 hours, Mr. Trump has told people close to him that he has made up his mind and will skip the debate in Milwaukee, according to two of the people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Trump is notoriously mercurial, and left himself something of an out to change his mind with an ambiguous post on his website, Truth Social, on Thursday. He wrote that he’s polling well ahead of his rivals and added, “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?”

For weeks, the former president has been quizzing aides, associates, and rally crowds about what he should do. Until earlier this week, Mr. Trump had been giving people the impression he was considering a last-minute surprise appearance on Wednesday.

The Times notes that the Carlson chat is clearly something of a big middle finger from both Trump and Carlson to Fox News. Trump has been openly angry with the right-leaning network for not being as publicly “supportive” as he’d like. And, of course, Carlson gets to thumb his nose at his former network after they fired him earlier this year. Despite the fact he’s still under contract with Fox News, he’s aired a few “Twitter shows” leading Fox to send him cease-and-desist letters. And yet, he does not. In related news, Trump has now cancelled his previously announced “exoneration” press event on Monday where he promised to reveal “irrefutable & overwhelming” evidence that the 2020 election was stolen. He now says his lawyers will put that info in “formal legal filings,” though attorneys had cautioned the presser could complicate his legal issues. https://twitter.com/7Veritas4/status/1692334296625811795 https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1692591449563394476 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1692563435903414492