ABC News has canceled its scheduled Republican Presidential primary debate after a series of events left Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the only willing participant.
After finishing fourth in Iowa, candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign. Following her third-place finish in the Hawkeye State, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley declared the race was down to two candidates — insinuating she and former President Donald Trump, the victor of the Caucuses, were the only viable options.
Haley informed ABC News she would not participate in the debate unless Trump joined the event. “That’s who I’m running against…there is nobody else I need to debate,” Haley said during an appearance on CNN.
Trump has refused to participate in any debates, citing a commanding lead in the polls as the chief reason for avoiding his opponents.
After the culmination of each event, ABC News declared the debate would not take place.
“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,” an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement. “While our robust election coverage will continue, ABC News and WMUR-TV will not be moving forward with Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.”
DeSantis was critical of Haley’s decision to not participate, saying “I committed to it. She is now saying that she’s not going to debate. I understand why,” referencing her third-place finish in Iowa.
The ABC News debate was scheduled for Thursday at 9 PM ET. David Muir and Linsey Davis was scheduled to co-moderate the event.
