Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is claiming victory in the Republican primary debate hours before it begins — even though he will not be attending.
In a statement on Wednesday, Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita said, “President Trump has already won this evening’s debate because everything is going to be about him.”
“Only President Trump has the policy ideas, the fortitude, and the polling to go head-to-head with Crooked Joe Biden in the general election. Republican voters recognize this, hence President Trump’s 62-16 lead in the GOP primary,” he continued.
The statement went on to take a shot at the Fox News hosts moderating the debate, “You should also expect the Fox hosts to show an unnatural obsession with President Trump tonight, asking other Republican candidates over and over to react to President Trump’s policy position.”
“In fact, we will be tallying the number of times President Trump’s name is brought up, and his total ‘speaking time,’ even though he is not in attendance,” it added.
“President Trump has already won this evening’s debate” pic.twitter.com/gUGvfQ6BAq
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) August 23, 2023
LaCivita also claimed none of the candidates attending the debate will “match the big ideas and bold policy President Trump has already laid out.”
“In fact, tonight’s undercard event really shouldn’t even be called a debate, but rather an audition to be a part of President Trump’s team in his second term,” he added.
Trump has previously stated he will not be attending primary debates, as he said in a post on Truth Social, “The public knows who I am [and] what a successful Presidency I had.”
The candidates expected to attend included, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Burgum was reportedly rushed to a hospital on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning, his campaign said it was unclear if he “will be able to stand at the debate.”
Polls show Trump has a massive lead over the primary field.
According to RealClearPolitics’ average of polls, the former president is in first place with 55.4% of the vote, while DeSantis comes in second at 14.3%.