Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have each qualified for the CNN GOP primary debate in Iowa next week.
U.S. Congressman Ron DeSantis of Florida speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Meanwhile, former President Donald J Trump will do his own thing yet again and instead will participate in a Fox News town hall that will air at the same time. This is the latest in a string of incidents where Donald Trump has opted out of debating other Republicans who are vying to lead the GOP to the White House.
The first GOP debate on CNN is scheduled to air at 9 pm EST on January 10. Former New Jersey governor and one-time Trump ally Chris Christie failed to qualify for CNN's debate, nor did biotech businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Neither of them reached the 10 percent polling threshold in three national or Iowa polls, including one conducted by CNN.
Ramaswamy criticized CNN in a post on X on Tuesday, naming a handful of its anchors and commentators and previewing the GOP debate as "the most boring in modern history."
Ramaswamy said that he would be holding a counterprogramming event instead, to be hosted by influential media personality Tim Pool.
The Hill is reporting that this move comes as Nikki Haley appears to be making some momentum in the New Hampshire polls, though Trump is still leading in the state. Recently, the former president was removed from the ballots in Colorado and Maine, respectively.
But What About Donald Trump?
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has gone on record stating that removing Trump from any ballot plays into his base's belief that he is a victim of an overreaching, big government cabal that wishes to suppress his voice, and theirs by proxy.
Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment states that US officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution are disqualified from holding office if they are involved with or give comfort to insurrectionists.
However, the Constitution does not spell out how to enforce the ban, and the vague phrasing has led to questions about whether it even applies to the presidency.
