Former President Donald Trump will skip next week’s second Republican presidential primary debate in California to deliver a competing speech the same evening in Detroit, his campaign confirmed.
The exact time and audience are not yet clear, but The New York Times first reported that Trump would skip the California debate in favor of remarks before a union audience. Trump will speak in the same city where Members of the United Auto Workers demonstrated on the picket lines to demand higher wages, better hours and better benefits.
The former president’s decision comes as polls show he is the front-runner in the Republican camp, a reason he gave for skipping the debates altogether. The former president skipped the first GOP debate for a primetime interview with Tucker Carlson.
The second GOP debate is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27 at 9 p.m. ET, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Fox News’ Stuart Varney and Dana Perino will moderate the debate, along with Univision’s Ilia Calderón.
The Republican National Committee has not yet confirmed which candidates have been selected. qualified to participate in the debate, which requires reaching a minimum threshold of number of polls and unique donors for the campaign. So far, it appears that besides Trump, other candidates likely to meet the requirements would be entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador and governor of South Carolina; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; former Vice President Mike Pence; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum do not appear to have qualified yet.
A new CBS News poll found Trump leading President Biden in a head-to-head matchup, with Trump at 50% and Mr. Biden at 49%.
