‘He’s a Coward!’: Republican Rivals Hit Trump for Ducking Presidential Debate
Trump plans to skip this week's first Republican debate
Donald Trump's coming under fire for his decision to duck this week's first debate among Republicans seeking their party's nomination for president.
But it's yet to be seen whether the former president and current frontrunner for that 2024 nomination will pay any political price for that decision.
Some seven candidates have qualified for the kick-off Republican debate, set for Wednesday evening.
“He’s a coward. There’s no other conclusion to come to, that he’s both afraid of me and he’s afraid of defending his record. And if I had his record, I’d be nervous about showing up too,” said former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who is one of Trump's rivals for the nomination. “I mean, let’s face it guys, by Wednesday, he’s going to be out on bail in four different jurisdictions. Really, when are we going to stop thinking that’s normal?
“When are we going to allow our country to understand again that nominating someone who's out on bail in four jurisdictions is not a winning formula?” he added.
Christie was referring to the growing raft of criminal charges facing Trump in both state and federal courts.
Trump, this week, is ordered to turn himself in, in Fulton County Ga, for the fourth such indictment. He faces multiple counts for trying to overturn Georgia's result in the 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who typically has been more-muted in his criticism of Trump, took aim at his chief competitor for the Republican nod next year.
“Everybody should debate. Everybody has a responsibility to earn people’s votes. Nobody is entitled to anything in this world, less of all the Republican nomination for president. So I’m going to be there, I’m going to be making the case,” said DeSantis, who is trailing Trump by about a two-to-one margin in most opinion polling. “And this is really a great opportunity because I don’t think very many people over the summer have been following it that closely. I think this will be the first time where candidates will be able to speak unfiltered to a large number of Americans.”
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