COLUMBIA, S.C—Minus former President Donald Trump, 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls will take the stage in Milwaukee on Aug. 23 for the party’s first primary debate. Around 900 miles away, after speaking at a town hall in Richmond, Virginia, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be watching.
President Trump has said he will not participate in the Republican party’s first 2024 presidential debate. Mr. Kennedy, who has challenged President Joe Biden to a debate, disagrees with Mr. Trump’s decision.
“I think it would be better if we have a democracy where every candidate debates,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times at a hotel conference room in Columbia, South Carolina. He is in the state courting voters in a town hall tour ahead of the February 2024 primary.
“I suppose he is making a strategic decision that’s based upon his own interest, but I think we’re living in a period when people have lost faith in the democratic process, and they think the system is rigged,” Mr. Kennedy said about both President Joe Biden and President Trump not appearing in primary debates.
In an Aug. 20 post on his social media platform, Truth Social, President Trump confirmed he won’t be attending the first of the Republican debates.
He cited a CBS poll showing his commanding lead in the race as part of his decision to skip them.
“New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, ‘Aida’ Hutchinson 1%,” President Trump wrote.
“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
For months, President Trump has suggested he would likely pass on the event, explaining that it doesn’t make sense to give the media and critics a chance to attack him.
He also said earlier in August that he wouldn’t sign the loyalty pledge that is required of candidates by the Republican National Committee (RNC) in order to participate in the GOP primary debate.
The pledge mandates that candidates support the eventual Republican presidential nominee in 2024 and not participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned debate for the remainder of the election cycle. Candidates also must pledge not to run as an independent, write-in candidate, or third-party nominee.
“I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” President Trump said in an interview with Newsmax. “Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have? ... I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there, there’s a problem.”
Mr. Kennedy added that the former president and President Biden should take the debate stage as a sign of respect for American voters.
“Americans shouldn’t feel like we live in the Soviet Union, where the party picks the candidates. I think it would be much better for our democracy, and we'd be a better example for the world and improve our credibility with the American people if we actually allowed democracy to function and all the candidates participated in debates and town halls, and retail politics.”
Since announcing his candidacy to challenge President Biden in April, Mr. Kennedy has gained widespread support from conservatives, moderates, Libertarians, and liberals. The Democratic National Committee earlier this year voted to give its full support to President Biden, and the organization said there would not be a primary debate.
Real Clear Politics average of polls has President Biden at 64.4 percent, Mr. Kennedy at 13.2 percent, and author Marianne Williamson at 6.2 percent among Democratic presidential candidates.
Hours after President Trump’s Truth Social post, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC, criticized the former president.
“If you want to be President you have to show up. Show up at debates, show up at town halls, and show up with the truth. You can’t hide, and you can’t pretend to be someone you aren’t. Great convo and coffee in South Miami,” Mr. Christie wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
Never Back Down posted a video from Wednesday that asserted: “We can’t afford a nominee who’s too weak to debate.”
Mr. Kennedy expressed a similar viewpoint about why President Biden should take the debate stage in the Democratic party primary.
“It is important for the Democratic party that there is a primary debate. Ultimately, a Democrat will debate a Republican, and the Republican will likely be Trump. He is probably the most successful debater in this country since Lincoln Douglas,” said Mr. Kennedy, noting how President Trump defeated a crowded pool of Republican primary candidates in 2016.
“He has his own technique that people like. It’s like going into a prize fight. You need practice, and that usually happens in the primary,” Mr. Kennedy said. “Asking the president to not debate in the primary is like asking a prizefighter to practice by sitting on the couch.”
Earlier this summer, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll indicated that eight in 10 Democratic primary voters would like to see a series of Democratic debates over the course of the 2024 campaign. That figure includes 72 percent of respondents who said they are supporting President Biden.
“The decision not to debate is ignoring the 82% of women, 84% of union households, 86% of independents, and 90% of young voters who are not only planning to vote in their state’s Democratic primary or caucus next year but also would like to see a series of Democratic primary debates,” David Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center, said in a statement after the poll was released.
Mr. Kennedy said American voters deserve to see a live debate that includes President Biden during the 2024 primary campaign season.
“I would like to participate in a debate against President Biden. Of course, he has the power to not do it, and it is a strategic choice for him,” Mr. Kennedy told The Epoch Times.
“I’m getting the opposite of support [from the DNC]. They have $2 billion, and they’re spending that money generously to try to marginalize me in many ways,” Mr. Kennedy added. “I think most Democrats care about one thing more than anything else, which is beating Donald Trump. I think there is more and more showing that President Biden cannot do that, and there is more and more showing that I can.”
