By Casey Harper | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he will skip the Republican presidential primary debate this week.
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump’s social media site, he touted a recent CBS poll showing a 46-point lead on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump announced he will “not be doing the debates,” saying he is already well known enough.
“New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%,” Trump wrote. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
The CBS poll of 2,061 adults was conducted Wednesday through Friday, and has a ±3% margin of error. It began two days after Trump’s fourth indictment, this time from a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll of 2,500 registered voters, conducted July 31-Aug. 3 in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, found that in a potential general election matchup, Biden and Trump are nearly tied. That survey found Trump has 41% support compared to Biden’s 44% support, while 15% remain unsure.
The poll also found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doing a tick better than Trump against Biden. DeSantis also had 41% support, but Biden against him was 43% with 16% unsure.
The first Republican debate hosted by the Republican National Committee and the Fox News Channel is Wednesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, site of next July’s national party convention. The only other debate thus far on the schedule is Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California.
The New York Times was first on Friday to report Trump would skip the debate and instead do an interview with Tucker Carlson, the former show host fired by Fox in April. Carlson does interviews now on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter and considered something of a rival to Trump’s Truth Social. The platform to broadcast the interview has not been announced.
The Washington Post, citing the Times, reported Saturday the interview would be released about the same time as the debate and that it already had been recorded.