"He’ll be there, even if he’s not there.”
Fox News is preparing to incorporate former President Donald Trump into the upcoming GOP presidential primary debate whether he shows up or not, even hinting that they could use video clips to get the reactions of the other candidates.
Fox News host and debate moderator Bret Bair suggested to Politico that he will still be a figure in the debate either way. "If he’s not there, he’ll still be there,” he said.
“In other words, he’ll be a part of questioning," he continued. "There may be sound bites, there may be elements where ‘this is what the leader of the primary says about this issue.’ He’ll be there, even if he’s not there.”
Bair and his co-moderator for the debate and fellow Fox News Host Martha MacCallum noted that they will be ready if Trump decides to attend as well. Bair said, “For the most part, we talk about subjects as buckets of questions.”
"The buckets wouldn’t change that much whether he’s in or not. Maybe some of the interaction between candidates would change a bit," he added.
"We will have questions for every candidate up there, including former President Trump if he decides to join us," MacCallum noted.
Previous reports revealed that Fox tried to get the former president to get him to join. Fox even sent network president Jay Wallace and Chief Executive Suzanne Scott to have dinner with Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.
Former President Trump has been consistent in saying that he will not participate in the debates since they were announced in April. Sources revealed this week that he will instead partake in an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
"When you're leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, Trump and MAGA hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?" Trump asked on his platform, Truth Social in April.
So far, the candidates aside from Donald Trump who have met the Republican National Committee (RNC) benchmarks to participate in the debate are Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and Doug Burgum.
To qualify for the debates, a candidate must have donations from at least 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 per state in 20+ states and/or territories, and be polling at "1% in three national polls OR 1% in two national polls and 1% in one early state poll from two separate 'carve out' states," according to the RNC.
The first GOP debate is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, at 6 p.m.
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