WASHINGTON — A growing number of Republicans are trying to pressure Donald Trump to join a debate with his GOP rivals, though the former president refuses to engage in such an event.
Reince Priebus, Trump’s former White House chief of staff and chairman of the Republican Party, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that taunts from rivals like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could draw Trump down the line. ring.
“I think it will happen,” Priebus said, adding that the nation is in the middle of “middle finger politics…the world of Wrestlemania politics, the world where, you know, attention is what everything the world is looking for help.”
The Christie Factor
Christie, Trump’s most vocal critic of the Republican campaign, has harassed the frontrunner during the debates, suggesting he’s afraid to joust with others on topics ranging from his two indictments to abortion policy .
“These are the kinds of questions that we need to discuss on the debate stage,” Christie said on ABC on Sunday.
Trump: Why should I give them a chance?
Trump has repeatedly suggested he will skip the Republican debates this cycle, starting with an Aug. 23 event in Milwaukee.
Citing his large lead in the Republican polls, Trump told Fox News last week, “Why should I let these people shoot me?”
Trump’s accusations
Trump enjoys significant leads in Republican polls, leads that have grown despite his two indictments — a New York state silent money case and a federal obstruction of justice and documents case classified in Florida.
The GOP frontrunner is also under investigation in Atlanta and Washington, DC over efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Pollsters say he takes advantage of Republicans who buy his clams that the investigations are a plot by Democrats to damage his presidential bid.
New poll gives Trump 51%
An NBC News poll released Sunday said 51% of Republican primary voters make Trump their top choice for the GOP nomination, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 22%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 7 % and Christie at 5%. No other candidate exceeded 4%.
But the poll also found that independent voters are increasingly against Trump because of the indictments, and they are the ones who will likely decide the general election against Biden. The survey found that half of Republican primary voters say they would consider a leader other than Trump.
‘Get in the ring, buddy’
The debates are probably the best chance for the other candidates to catch up with Trump, a challenge that would be even more difficult if he refused to participate.
In a tweet last weekChristie noted that Trump had said it would be unfair for him to debate low-rated opponents.
“Whiners and losers say life isn’t fair. And Trump is both,” Christie said. “You want to be president? So get in the ring.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Donald Trump debate GOP rivals? Republicans are pressuring him