Former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that her onetime boss is giving President Biden an excuse not to debate him after the former president said he will not be attending the first GOP primary debate Wednesday.
“The indication is former President Trump will not be here,” McEnany said on Fox News’s “Outnumbered.” “And the takeaway from that is this is a huge political miscalculation, I would say, for him for two reasons: You give others the opportunity to shine. You give others two hours to throw lobs at you.”
“And I know former President Trump can dance across that debate stage, can defend himself — but you’re not there to do it yourself,” she added.
McEnany pointed to a Politico report published in February that suggested that Biden’s staff have noted that Republicans are reluctant to work with the Commission on Presidential Debates, which the report said would result in “lessening the chances, and risk, of a head-to-head debate.”
“So Biden can say, ‘I’m going to use the Trump precedent here; I’m not showing up; my internal polls show me — show I’m up,’” she said.
Republican candidates are slated to take the stage Wednesday night in the first 2024 presidential primary debate. At least eight of the GOP hopefuls, including Trump, have met the polling and donor requirements needed to attend the first debate.
However, Trump confirmed Sunday that he will not attend the Wednesday debate and floated the possibility that he will skip future ones as well, pointing to his comfortable lead in the polls.