Donald Trump's plan to skip the Republican Party presidential debate this week is causing no small amount of angst among GOP officials and not just because he will reportedly hold a competing appearance with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
Earlier this past week reports surfaced that the former president would make good on his promise to boycott the debate being televised on Fox because of his distaste for the conservative network that he feels has not been supportive enough as well as not wanting to hand his rivals a chance to share the stage with him.
According to a report from The New York Times, the former president has been advised by RNC officials that he may open the door for President Joe Biden to use the same tactics on him.
The Times is reporting that RNC head Ronna McDaniel made a July trip to meet with Trump and implore him to participate while warning it could backfire after he wins the GOP nominations and becomes the GOP's 2024 presidential candidate.
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"One of the arguments that the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, made to Mr. Trump that day was that by skipping the debate, he would give President Biden an excuse to get out of debating Mr. Trump should they meet again in 2024, according to two people familiar with their conversation," the report states. "The strong desire of Mr. Trump and his advisers to see him debate Mr. Biden may lead to Mr. Trump undercutting work by the R.N.C., which has spent the last two years searching for an alternative to the Commission on Presidential Debates for hosting general election matchups."
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As one GOP strategist put it, “The end goal is as many debates as possible between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” while Biden insiders are claiming they haven't made any plans that far out that they are willing to admit to.
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