'Beat the lion': Trump’s rivals hope presidential debate will weaken his frontrunner status

21 August 2023

This Wednesday, August 23, Fox News will broadcast the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate. But former President Donald Trump, the primary's frontrunner, has announced on his Truth Social platform that he will not be participating.

Instead, Trump, according to the New York Times, will be interviewed online that night by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Despite facing four criminal indictments, Trump continues to enjoy sizable leads in the primary. A CBS News/YouGov poll released on August 20 shows Trump ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the primary's second-place candidate, by 46 percent.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

If this continues, 2024 could very well see a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden. But the momentum in presidential primaries can shift. In late 2019/early 2020, many pundits were writing obituaries for Biden's presidential campaign; Biden went on to win the Democratic nomination and enjoy a decisive victory over Trump in the general election — which Trump continues to falsely claim that he won (a lie that has been repeatedly debunked and is at the heart of two of the four criminal prosecutions he faces).

In an article published by the Washington Post on August 21, reporters Maeve Reston, Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells emphasize that Trump's primary rivals are hoping the August 23 debate will weaken Trump's momentum.

"After a months-long stretch when Trump's legal woes have attracted widespread attention," the journalists report, "Fox News moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum have signaled that they plan to press the candidates for their opinions on Trump's alleged crimes…. Veteran Republican strategist Mike Murphy argued that GOP voters seeking an alternative to Trump will be looking for the contender who addresses the totality of the crimes he stands accused of and how those legal travails could harm the party's chances of winning back the White House."

Murphy told the Post, "If they roll over and purr, then they are kittens, not candidates. How do you beat the lion without engaging him?”

The debate's participants will include, among others, DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The GOP presidential candidate who has been the most overtly critical of Trump is former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once an ally.

Pence told the Post, "It's going to be an opportunity for us to reintroduce ourselves to the American people. I never forget, having done a couple of these national televised debates, it's not so much about who you're talking to on the stage, it's about who you're talking to across the country."

Read the Washington Post's full report at this link (subscription required).

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