350

The former president’s apparent decision to skip the first debate is a major affront both to the Republican National Committee and to Fox News, which is hosting the event.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 73 points 1 year ago

I thought he was the best debater? What's he afraid of?

[-] neptune@dmv.social 51 points 1 year ago

I think it's a power move. The GOP is nothing without his base. He's forcing that point. Viewer numbers are what feeds his ego.

[-] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 14 points 1 year ago

He’s afraid. He craves attention more than he can provide it.

[-] neptune@dmv.social 21 points 1 year ago

Maybe both. Obviously Tucker will give him softballs. But it's a competition he's more comfortable with: collecting eyeballs.

[-] Oderus@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

He's too privileged and stupid to be scared. He's certain he'll get away with whatever he does regardless of what that is.

I agree with others saying this is a power move. By not going, he basically proves that many Republicans won't watch which means less views which means Trump can say, without lying, that because he didn't show the views were down.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)

Exactly. Why go and share a stage with a bunch of people who are trailing him so much in the polls when he can go sit down with Tucker Carlson and get all the attention.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] dhork@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

He's a Master Debater

[-] tastysnacks@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

Mike Pence. The dude should just crack him. He’d go up in the polls.

[-] paddirn@lemmy.world 72 points 1 year ago

He doesn't really need to go though. Latest polling numbers have him at 54% of the Republican vote, with DeSantis at 15% as his closest competitor. Who does he need to convince that doesn't know who he is already? As much as I hate him, he's still unfortunately popular with many in the GOP, I just hope he's rotting in a prison cell by the time the actual election gets underway and the GOP has to scramble to put up some other reject in his place.

[-] Nougat@kbin.social 31 points 1 year ago

I just hope he’s rotting in a prison cell by the time the actual election gets underway and the GOP has to scramble to put up some other reject in his place.

You're thinking of the Republican primary. He'll still run in the general with or without the Republican nomination, in or out of prison. If he gets the nomination, and ends up convicted, there's going to be a hell of a fight in the Republican party. Invest in popcorn now.

[-] JustZ@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

There's already a hell of fight in the party. He lost twice already.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

He doesn’t really need to go though. Latest polling numbers have him at 54% of the Republican vote, with DeSantis at 15% as his closest competitor. Who does he need to convince that doesn’t know who he is already?

If they're smart, this is the GOPs chance to out all the dirty laundry on Trump uncontested by Trump himself on a nationally televised event. Each candidate will have their chance to dunk on Trump while high-fiving each other.

[-] Infynis@midwest.social 8 points 1 year ago

Except, according to DeSantis' leaked debate prep, he's planning to defend Trump

[-] keeb420@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

What a pathetic little man. He has a chance to show how he's different from trump and the best he can do is get on his knees and plead fealty!?

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago

I guess he's hoping for VP or at least a cabinet position?

Hopefully the other candidates have a spine and a brain. Trump has already sunk. The only hope for Republicans is to move away, not to sink with him. I don't really care either way. It looks to me like the party is doomed, which is good. Hopefully the democrats split and take over as two parties over time, maybe with actual progressives in one.

[-] buttsbuttsbutts@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 1 year ago

No, desantis already tried the "Trump is too liberal" tactic and failed. Why? Because Trump is the strong daddy in Republicans eyes, and you can't call the strong daddy weak.

Instead you say that strong daddy is being railroaded by the libtards and it's totally unfair, but you should vote for me because he has to concentrate on his legal fights and I'm also a strong daddy.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Djennik@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

I thought Tucker hated him passionately?

[-] chrizbie@lemmy.nz 52 points 1 year ago

He doesn't hate him as much as he loves views though

[-] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

Yea but he loves money more

[-] Landmammals@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

Really Trump's best move is just to assume he's the nominee and act like it's foolish for the GOP to even have a primary.

[-] nutsack@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

a strategically correct move in his case honestly

[-] Raptor_007@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago
[-] LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

GOP is trump’s bitch at this point

[-] SpunkyBarnes@geddit.social 12 points 1 year ago

Wait. Tucker? I thought he’d been deplatformed.

[-] korewa@reddthat.com 12 points 1 year ago

He seems to be on twitter. yt algorithm recommended his video for some reason.

load more comments (11 replies)
[-] BlinkAndItsGone@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The article only has one line about this, noting that what platform this interview would take place on is unclear. I just checked and it looks like he's continued to do a show on Twitter despite Fox News sending him a cease-and-desist letter, so presumably it would be there.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Weird, I thought Trump was going to use the distraction of the debate to flee the country.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] theodewere@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

they're both circling the bowl.. together..

[-] CapnMoisesBKind@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

Haha I love this

[-] GreenMario@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't show up to any debates either if I was him. Why would I I have a motherfuckin CULT that will die for me. All I gotta do is tweet "kill em all my peeps" and it's over.

Wouldn't even dignify these pretenders with my presence.

Honestly I'm curious as to why he hasn't given the "fire at will" order yet. I would have Jan 6. Other billionaires holding him back?

[-] dynamojoe@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Ronna McDaniel's prayers have been answered. Now they don't have to fret over banning Trump for not signing the GOP Loyalty pledge.

[-] mr_tyler_durden@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago
[-] Javish@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

What a coward.

[-] athos77@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Gotta try to boost the ratings for the mouthpiece that helped boost you up and covered your ass last time around, eh? And keep yourself from facing direct criticism or being forced to sign that annoying "support the nominee" pledge - or letting tv cameras you don't control show the nation see how fat, sallow, and stressed you look, or hearing the dementia-and-pill addled word salad come out of your mouth.

I wouldn't be surprised if they pre-recorded it, either.

[-] ScrollinMyDayAway@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Let them fight.

There's a reference there, but I didn't feel like looking up the gif.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] YourBrainOnScience@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

It might ruffle some feathers at the RNC that he is treating their debate invite like he treats a Congressional subpoena.

[-] Treczoks@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Which again shows what a coward he is. He already said that he won't honor the pledge of a GOP candidate that he would support the primary winner regardless of who it is.

If the GOP was honest and true, they would have to stop supporting Trump.

[-] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

He's not being cowardly, he's running the circus and rubbing it in the party's face. Trump stole the GOP base out from under the party and the party leadership can't do anything about it.

[-] donuts@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

I think he's both being a coward and running the circus.

As for the debates, why should he?

I mean, the guy certainly doesn't care for democracy or informing the populous about his utter lack of policies, and with a >30% lead in the Republican primary polls he has everything to lose while the other candidates can only gain. Trump and his people know that there's no upside in it for him to debate, especially since he's fucking terrible at it, and his cult of followers probably won't care if he doesn't show up anyway.

[-] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

This is just pragmatic. He gains nothing by being in the debate. The only reason he would be in it was if he was interested in the democratic process and societal norms.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
350 points (97.0% liked)

politics

18874 readers
3721 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
  2. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  3. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  4. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
  5. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  6. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS