ABC News canceled the upcoming Republican presidential debate on Tuesday due to Nikki Haley’s statement that she would not take part unless former President Donald Trump did. Now, Governor Ron DeSantis is the only committed candidate for Thursday’s debate in New Hampshire.
What did Haley say?
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Haley said in a statement, released as she campaigned in New Hampshire. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
Her statement was made public one day following the crucial Iowa caucuses, where Trump defeated Haley and DeSantis by a huge majority. Haley attempted to shift the focus of her electoral argument away from DeSantis and toward Trump as the two were engaged in a fierce race for second place in Iowa. She kept repeating that her candidacy represents a change from the “chaos” that follows the GOP front-runner. The decision might also have been influenced by the fact that Haley underperformed in the last debate, which only included her and DeSantis, and that DeSantis subsequently defeated her to take second place in Iowa.
Haley had persuaded caucus attendees that choosing her would increase Republicans’ chances of defeating Biden in November. She cited polls that indicated she had the biggest lead among the GOP field in a fictitious general election.
“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” ABC News spokesperson Van Scott said in a statement.
Haley is afraid to debate: DeSantis
DeSantis claimed that Haley “is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions” on X. He declared that he was “looking forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week” and accused her of “running to be Trump’s VP.”
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung on Tuesday called Haley a “desperate globalist who wants higher taxes, open borders, and China to dominate the United States”. He added, “That’s why the only people who are voting for her are Democrats who are trying to interfere in a Republican primary.”
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