Iowa — With only New Hampshire Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed to participate in Thursday's debate, ABC News decided to scrap the next Republican presidential debate on Tuesday due to Nikki Haley's statement that she would not attend unless former President Donald Trump was there.
While campaigning in New Hampshire, Haley delivered a statement in which she stated, "We've had five great debates in this campaign." Donald Trump has, regrettably, avoided all of them. He can no longer hide anywhere. Either Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be my opponent in the upcoming debate. "I can't wait for it."
Her remarks came the day after the crucial Iowa caucuses, where Trump easily defeated Haley and DeSantis. Haley attempted to shift the focus of her electoral argument away from DeSantis and onto Trump as they were tied in a tight race for second place in Iowa. She kept saying that her campaign represents a change from the "chaos" that accompanies the GOP front-runner.
The last debate, in which DeSantis and Haley were the sole candidates, may have had an impact on the decision; Haley's performance was below expectations, and DeSantis came out on top in Iowa.
According to Haley, Republicans have a greater chance of defeating Biden in November if they choose her as their candidate. She cited survey data suggesting that she has the highest advantage among the GOP candidates in a hypothetical general election fight.
"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," added Van Scott, a spokeswoman for ABC News
Another New Hampshire debate that was supposed to air on CNN on Sunday is also in jeopardy due to Haley's decision.
Haley "is afraid to debate because she doesn't want to answer the tough questions," according to DeSantis, who made the comment on X. "Running to be Trump’s VP" was his accusation, and he expressed his eagerness to debate "two empty podiums in the Granite State this week."