Trump suggests he won’t participate in first GOP debate

Donald Trump has suggested he will not participate in the first debate among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that it’s ‘not fair’ for candidates who are polling well to be asked questions alongside lower-polling candidates. ‘Well, you know, it’s quite an easy question normally,’ the former president said in a taped interview that aired on Sunday Morning Futures on16 July when asked directly whether he will join the debate scheduled for 23 August. ‘Ronald Reagan didn’t do it. A lot of people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,’ he said. He added: ‘Why would you be doing a debate? It’s actually not fair. Why would you let someone that’s [polling] at zero, or one, or two, or three, you know, be popping you with questions.’ The crowded field of candidates must hit certain fundraising and polling thresholds – and sign a ‘loyalty pledge’ to support the eventual party nominee – to make it to the debate stage. Mr Trump’s appearance on the network comes one day after his rambling remarks to right-wing activist group Turning Point USA’s Turning Point Action Conference in Florida, where he painted a typically bleak picture of the state of the US and denied wrongdoing in the multiple investigations and indictments against him.