"They have to stop the debates": After second GOP face-off, Trump demands RNC silence his opponents

Donald Trump says he plans to skip the third Republican debate

By Sophia Tesfaye

Senior Politics Editor

Published September 28, 2023 11:51AM (EDT)

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier, in Clinton, Michigan, on September 27, 2023. (MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier, in Clinton, Michigan, on September 27, 2023. (MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)

While Donald Trump avoided questions from the Fox Business moderators and his Republican rivals for the GOP's presidential nomination at the Ronald Reagan Library in California on Wednesday, he spoke with the right-wing outlet Daily Caller on Thursday to complain about it all. 

"They have to stop the debates," the former president demanded. "Because it is just bad for the Republican Party."

On Wednesday night, Trump was directly challenged by the other Republican candidates for skipping his second debate.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a one-time top Trump adviser, said the businessman now "hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won't show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer."

"He should be on this stage tonight," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, explaining to the conservative audience that "He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt. That set the stage for the inflation we have now."

But Trump, who has consistently trounced his opponents in public polls, dismissed their critiques as noise. 

"They are not going anywhere. There is not going to be a breakout candidate," he told Daily Caller reporter Henry Rodgers.

Trump said that he has no plans to attend the third GOP debate in Miami, Florida, scheduled for November.

"I am very concerned about the RNC not being able to do their job."


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