Trump Chooses Fox Town Hall Over CNN Debate

Former President Donald Trump has chosen to participate in a Fox News town hall scheduled for Jan. 10 in Des Moines, Iowa, at 9 p.m. This decision means he will not be present at CNN’s GOP primary debate, which is also slated for the same time. The Fox town hall will be moderated by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

CNN revealed that only Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley qualified for the Iowa debate, as announced after the 12 p.m. qualification deadline. While DeSantis and Haley have committed to participating, Trump has consistently bypassed GOP primary debates, often opting for his own counter-programming. In August, he skipped a debate hosted by Baier and MacCallum to have an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson.

With the field narrowing down from eight candidates in August to just three, Haley has urged Trump to attend. However, the former president is expected to miss CNN’s debate in New Hampshire later this month, as indicated by a campaign advisor last month. Despite his significant lead in the polls, Trump mentioned he would be willing to debate another Republican candidate if the competition was close.

“I would debate that Republican, yeah. But it’s not close,” he remarked in a conversation with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.