The first 2024 Republican Presidential debate will be held tonight, and former President Donald Trump will be noticeably absent. Radio host Mike Gallagher believes Trump’s partnership with Tucker Carlson is a calculated move from both sides.
Instead of participating in the first debate, the former President will sit down for a one-on-one interview with Carlson that will reportedly publish to X, formerly Twitter, at the same time as the debate.
During The Mike Gallagher Show, the Salem Radio Network host argued Trump’s snub of the debate is simply a message to Fox News.
“There’s a whole backstory about who he’s sticking it to by not showing up. He’s really sticking it to Fox News. He’s furious at Fox News,” Gallagher said. “They’ve been wooing him. Bret Baier, — there’s been a lot of reporting about Bret Baier personally calling the President multiple times, begging him to do the debate. (Trump) had dinner with Suzanne Scott and one of the other executives recently, I think at Bedminster. They’re wooing him, they’re all wanting him there. They all want him on that stage.”
Gallagher continued by noting that Trump found a willing ally in his quest to damage the conservative cable network in its former host Tucker Carlson.
“And so what he does and incidentally, is more backstory behind the curtains here,” he said. “Tucker Carlson is embroiled right now in a very nasty legal battle with Fox News. They’re still paying him. They fired him, inexplicably. And to this day, I don’t think anybody’s got a good explanation of why they let him go.”
The debate will air on Fox News from 9:00-11:00 PM ET tonight from Milwaukee. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will co-moderate the event.
