Donald Trump snubs GOP Iowa debate for dueling Fox News town hall
DES MOINES, Iowa – Fox News announced Tuesday that former President Donald Trump will participate in an Iowa town hall with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum on the same day as CNN’s Republican presidential debate Jan. 10.
Both events are occurring in Des Moines at the same time.
Fox said its town hall with Trump will run from 9 to 10 p.m. ET.
The outlet said the Trump town hall will “focus on the leading issues facing voters ahead of the Iowa Caucus.”
Trump has a stacked slate of campaign rallies and events in Iowa up until the caucus.
CNN also said Tuesday that Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley qualified for their debate, to which only DeSantis and Haley agreed.
In response to Fox’s announcement, DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo said Trump is “scared to get on stage” to defend his record.
“Even Gavin Newsom had the courage to stand on the stage to debate his own failed record against Ron DeSantis,” Romeo said. “If it would make the debate more inviting, we would gladly agree to make it a seated format where the former president would be more comfortable.”
Nikki Haley ties Ron DeSantis in national primary polling, metric finds
Nationally, Trump leads both DeSantis and Haley by over 50 points. RealClearPolling’s aggregate places Trump’s level of support at 62.5% as of Jan. 2.
The first voting for the GOP nomination takes place in less than two weeks with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15.
In Iowa, DeSantis is still leading Haley 18.6% to 16.1%. There, Trump leads by over 32 points with 51.3% support.
Then, the New Hampshire primary takes place Jan. 23. Haley clocks around 24.8% support in New Hampshire; Trump leads by over 21 points with 46.3% support. In New Hampshire, DeSantis is fourth at 9.5%, behind former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 10.5%.
After New Hampshire, the South Carolina primary occurs Feb. 3, Nevada on Feb. 8, South Carolina on Feb. 24, and then Michigan, Idaho, Missouri, Washington, D.C. and North Dakota.
Super Tuesday takes place March 5, where the largest amount of delegates for the GOP nomination can be won on a single night.
Florida’s primary will occur on March 19.
