Debate Cancelled After Haley Refuses To Participate Without Trump
WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) – The next Republican presidential debate has been canceled with Indian American aspirant Nikki Haley refusing to appear on stage unless former President Donald Trump takes part.
Following her third-place finish in the Iowa caucus, Haley took to her social media handle and said that so far, they have had five “great debates” in the campaign.
“Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it,” Haley, the lone woman candidate in the presidential race, said.
ABC News and local New Hampshire outlet WMUR-TV scrapped the debate scheduled for January 18 at Saint Anselm College in Manchester.
The CNN-moderated debate in New Hampshire, which is slated for January 21, is also in doubt.
Haley’s announcement came a day after America’s twice-impeached former President, facing more than 90 criminal charges, emerged triumphant in Iowa and solidified his position as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
The party frontrunner won by a wide margin over Haley, who won just over 19 per cent of the vote.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who edged out Haley by two points to finish in second place in Iowa, slammed his rivals for refusing to debate him.
“Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,” DeSantis posted.
“I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week,” he added.
Qmind.
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She was counting on New Hampshire to advance but her third position in Iowa her supporters in New Hampshire, mostly old woman, will vote for her but the rest of the Republican voters will not waste their time and money to vote for a clear loser. Now Trump is campaigning with Vivek Ramaswamy the campaign will run steam. Even the Desantis is getting on the bandwagon about her fraudulent acquiring of wealth and enriching from Boeing contract and she was governor of South Carolina.. she is definitely a flash in the pan because of her support and funding from Wall Street who are definitely the biggest losers who gambled on a candidate that was an empty suit and lost heavy. They will not support her after New Hampshire even if she comes in second.
January 17, 2024Pradeep Srivastava
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I tend to agree with Haley’s decision not to debate, considering that, according to realclearpolitics.com, she is currently beating DeSantis in polls, nationally, as well as in New Hampshire and South Carolina. See below. She learned from Trump that it is pointless to take part in a debate if one is leading in polls.
National
Trump,,,61.9
Haley…11.6
DeSantis…10.7
Note: It seems Haley and DeSantis are competing head to head at the national level.
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New Hampshire
Trump…44.5
Haley…31.3
Christie…11.0
Note: Christie is no longer a candidate. It’s possible that Christie supporters will move towards Haley, although Christie has not endorsed her. On the contrary, in a hot mic moment, he said something negative about Haley in that she will be “smoked”. Ramaswami is not a contender anymore either. His supporters will most likely vote for Trump. I expect Haley to come second in New Hampshire. DeSantis is not even campaigning in New Hampshire.
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South Carolina
Trump…52.0
Haley…21.8
DeSantis…11.0
Note: Haley will probably be a distant second in her own state.
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In retrospect, Haley and DeSantis should not have agreed to debate unless Trump took part in it as well. As a matter of fact, all the prominent Republicans, including all the presidential contenders, not just Christie and Hutchinson, should have gone after Trump, who will be a weak candidate in the general election because of him being a “twice-impeached former President, facing more than 90 criminal charges”
January 17, 2024