Donald Trump’s rivals need to take him on forcefully at next Republican presidential debate, moderator says
Trump's rivals need to be more forceful in the next Republican debate to cut into his lead in opinion polls.
One of the debate moderators said that Donald Trump's rivals need to take him on more forcefully at next week's Republican presidential debate if they have any hope of cutting into the runaway front-runner's massive lead in opinion polls, on September 19, reported Reuters.
Former US President Donald Trump will skip the second debate, just as he did the first one in Wisconsin last month. He leads his nearest rival for the Republican presidential nomination in opinion polls by approximately 40 percentage points.
White House press secretary under Republican President George W. Bush and currently an anchor and political commentator at Fox News, Dana Perino said, "They're not going to be able to put a dent in his lead if they don't. President Trump has a commanding and seemingly very enduring lead. It's up to these candidates to show why they think that they would be better."
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A co-moderator at September 27 debate, Perino said none of Trump's rivals managed to alter the dynamic of the nominating race in that first debate. In the next rhetorical clash, which will take place on September 28, she said that needed to change. The debate will be held at Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California. She said, “If you're a supporter or a donor of one of these candidates, you want to see a breakout moment.”
As the voting in the nominating contest is set to begin in Iowa in January, Donald Trump's Republican opponents face dwindling opportunities to impede his path to becoming the Republican nominee, despite the numerous legal challenges he has encountered this year, having been indicted four times.
A Fox Business Network anchor and one of Perino's co-moderators, Stuart Varney said that the candidates will be questioned on a range of issues that include immigration, inflation, crime, and foreign policy.
Trump's lead has continued to expand in recent months, despite facing four criminal indictments with most of his rivals languishing in single digits in opinion polls.
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Six candidates who have so far qualified for the debate include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former US ambassador to the UN and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The Republican National Committee, responsible for organising the debates, has selected Fox Business Network as the host for the event. Univision, the US-based Spanish-language TV channel and Rumble, a popular online video platform among conservatives, will also co-host the event.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Business NewsNewsDonald Trump’s rivals need to take him on forcefully at next Republican presidential debate, moderator says
First Published:20 Sep 2023, 07:36 PM IST
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