The shadow looming over Wednesday's Republican debate
Wednesday night’s Republican presidential primary debate will be defined by who isn’t there. Donald Trump, the overwhelming leader in the polls, has decided to skip it. Instead, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott will take the stage and try to make their mark, whether by taking each other down, taking on the absent Trump, or showing off their positive vision for the future. (Good luck with that last one.)
That doesn’t mean Trump is letting his competitors dominate the headlines this week, even though he’ll be at his Bedminster golf course during the debate. He’s planning to release an already recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson online around the time of the debate. His big move is Thursday, though: He’ll turn himself in at the Fulton County jail “to be ARRESTED,” as he wrote on Truth Social. And with that, any attention that may have gone to the debate’s winners and losers will be wiped out unless one of the candidates has managed to arrange for an absolutely perfect one-liner about Trump’s Georgia charges to be played on repeat by cable news producers with time to kill while waiting for Trump to show up.