ABC News has cancelled the next Republican presidential debate after Nikki Haley said she would not appear on stage unless Donald Trump takes part.
Trump has refused to participate in any of the Republican primary debates so far, making Ron DeSantis the only candidate committed to Thursday’s event in New Hampshire.
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Haley said in a statement, released as she campaigned in New Hampshire. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
Her statement was released a day after the all-important Iowa caucuses, which Trump won by a wide margin over Haley, who won just over 19% of the vote, and DeSantis, who earned 21% of the vote.
The move also could be a result of the last debate which featured only Haley and DeSantis. Haley didn’t perform as well as expected, and DeSantis ultimately ended up beating her for second place in Iowa.
Haley had argued to caucus-goers that picking her gives Republicans a better chance to defeat Biden in November, pointing to survey data showing her with the largest lead among the GOP field in a theoretical general election matchup.
“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” an ABC News spokesperson, Van Scott, said in a statement.
Haley’s decision also casts doubt on another New Hampshire debate scheduled for Sunday on CNN.
On X, DeSantis said Haley “is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions”. He accused her of “running to be Trump’s VP” and said that he looked “forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week”.
Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, on Tuesday called Haley a “desperate globalist who wants higher taxes, open borders, and China to dominate the United States”. He added: “That’s why the only people who are voting for her are Democrats who are trying to interfere in a Republican primary.”
With the GOP campaign now shifting to New Hampshire, ahead of that state’s primary next week, Haley has projected confidence that her commitment to the state and surveys showing her with support there will provide her campaign with the momentum needed to cut into Trump’s strength.
Along the campaign trail in Iowa over the past week, reporters had asked Haley when she would commit to participating in Thursday’s debate, hosted by ABC and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College.
After his caucus win Trump flew to New York, where he made an appearance in court for the first day of E Jean Carroll’s defamation trial against him, before heading to a rally in New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire Republican party chairman, Chris Ager, told the Associated Press that invitations had been extended to Haley and Trump to join DeSantis on stage for the debate.
“We would love to see them all,” he said in a text message. “People in NH expect to see a local debate. Candidates who skip do so at their own risk.”
