Trump suggests boycott of 2024 GOP debates as Democrats skip them altogether

Mr Trump cites alleged media bias against him as one of the reasons to skip debating

Former President Donald Trump has suggested that he is planning on skipping the Republican primary debates due to his polling advantage and alleged biases against him.

“I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them,” Mr Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social. “When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the “questions,” why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?”

Mr Trump voiced a particular concern with the second primary debate, scheduled to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

“Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!”

Mr Trump’s invective against the GOP debate calendar comes after the Republican National Committee voted last year to separate from the Commission on Presidential Debates — casting the future of general election presidential debates into doubt as well.

Mr Trump had long criticised the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates as biased against him, and suggested that bias extends to a variety of media networks and anchors who may end up hosting the primary debates.

The first primary debate is set for August, with Fox News scheduled to host the event from Milwaukee. The Reagan Library is set to host the second debate, just as it did during the 2016 primary campaign. CNN will be the broadcast partner.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has decided not to hold any primary debates this year as President Joe Biden runs for re-election — a decision that has wrankled some members the party who have also voiced frustration with the re-organisation of the party’s primary calendar and want to see it facilitate an open primary process. Mr Biden has two declared challengers for the nomination, the author Marianne Williamson and Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Still, it is not unusual for the incumbent president’s party not to hold primary debates when the president is running for re-election. Mr Trump did not participate in primary debates when he ran for re-election in 2020, and neither did Barack Obama when he ran for re-election in 2012.

A leading primary contender skipping debates would be highly unusual — but Mr Trump, who has already served as president and is currently under indictment, is not a typical primary candidate.

Mr Trump does have a sizable lead in early polling of the race, but the Republican primary field includes a number of other prominent elected and formerly elected officials — with Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida poised to enter the race in the coming weeks or months.