Trump campaign taunts GOP debate participants – he's 'already won'

Donald Trump's campaign issued a taunting statement Wednesday declaring that the former president had "already won" the Republican presidential debate that he has no intention of taking part in.

The ex-president is skipping the GOP debate, scheduled for Wednesday evening in Milwaukee, on the eve of his negotiated surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, following his fourth indictment.

And his team has signaled they intend to overshadow the event.

"President Trump has already won this evening's debate because everything is about him," said Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita in a statement. "Only President Trump has the policy ideas, the fortitude and the polling to go head-to-head with Crooked Joe Biden in the general election."

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The statement referred to the debate as an "undercard" match and boasted about Trump's polling lead on all of his GOP rivals. It also seemingly tried to get inside the heads of the Fox News hosts who will moderate the event, which he will attempt to overshadow with an interview with former network host Tucker Carlson and his own arrest the following day.

"You should expect the Fox hosts to show an unnatural obsession with President Trump tonight, asking other Republican candidates over and over to react to President Trump's policy positions," LaCivita said. "In fact, we will be tallying the number of times President Trump's name is brought up, and his total 'speaking time,' even though he is not in attendance."

"When the other candidates do get a chance to speak, there will be a faint echo, or maybe even a copycat, of President Trump's Make America Great Again agenda," he added.