Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley challenged GOP front-runner Donald Trump to participate in next week's CNN debate nearly two hours after it was announced that the former president will take part in a dueling event — the same night.
Trump, Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were the only three GOP candidates to meet CNN's qualifications for its televised Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10. But Trump, as he did with all four Republican National Committee-sponsored debates, opted to skip it and will hold a televised town hall on the same night with Fox News.
That's when Haley threw down the gauntlet.
"With only three candidates qualifying, it's time for Donald Trump to show up," Haley said in a statement. "As the debate stage continues to shrink, it's getting harder for Donald Trump to hide."
So, it'll be DeSantis vs. Haley on one network and Trump on another, both starting at 9 p.m. ET.
"We understand Donald Trump is scared to get on the stage because he'd have to finally explain why he didn't build the wall, added nearly $8 trillion to the debt, and turned the country over to Fauci," the DeSantis campaign said after Trump's town-hall announcement. "But even Gavin Newsom had the courage to stand on the stage to debate his own failed record against Ron DeSantis."
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who didn't qualify for CNN's debate but said in a social media rant he would have skipped it anyway, announced a live-audience show in Des Moines, Iowa, with podcaster Tim Pool, also on Jan. 10.
Trump holds a 32-point lead over DeSantis (18.4%) in Iowa, according to FiveThirtyEight.com's polling average, with Haley third at 15.7%. Ramaswamy is fourth in Iowa at 6%.
The Iowa caucuses are Jan. 15.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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