President Trump asked his massive crowd in Erie, Pennsylvania if he should participate in the Republican primary debates and the crowds response was rather interesting.
Trump stated “Am I going to stand up there by guys with 0, 1, 2, 3 percent, maybe 4, and have them ask me hostile questions?”
Trump continued “But now put on your political cap, right? We have to save our country. We have to win. Should I get up there with 10 or 12 hostile people and a hostile network and be abused with terrible accusations?”
The crowd had a mixed response but mostly responded by saying “no”.
Trump did note that one positive part about him hitting the debate stage is that it would be very entertaining.
Take a look:
"Should we do the debate?" President Donald J. Trump explains why he’s hesitant to step on the debate stage pic.twitter.com/0h5e6iXAwf
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) July 29, 2023
Here’s what The Hill reported:
Former President Trump was met with a chorus of “no’s” when he asked those in attendance at a rally in Erie, Pa., on Saturday if he should participate in the first GOP presidential debate next month.
Trump noted that he has received many questions about whether he will attend the first debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Aug. 23. He has previously hinted that he might skip the debate, arguing that Fox is a “hostile network” and his strong polling that positions him as the frontrunner should mean that he does not need to debate with the other candidates who are far behind him.
“Am I going to stand up there by guys with 0, 1, 2, 3 percent, maybe 4, and have them ask me hostile questions?” he said Saturday.
“Should I get up there with 10 or 12 hostile people and a hostile network and be abused with terrible questions?” Trump asked the crowd.
The response was a parade of “no’s,” followed by widespread cheers after he asked if he should skip it.
“Should I get up there with 10 or 12 hostile people and a hostile network and be abused with terrible questions?” Trump asked the crowd, which responded with a parade of “no’s,” followed by widespread cheers after he asked if he should skip it.https://t.co/aXFsGxzfUU
— The Hill (@thehill) July 30, 2023
Per The New York Post:
President Donald Trump took an impromptu poll from a rally crowd in Pennsylvania Saturday on whether he should participate in the GOP primary debates, the first of which is scheduled for next month.
Trump got a mixed reaction as he weighed the political benefits of putting himself on the stage with “hostile” opponents against the sheer entertainment value of doing so.
“Am I going to stand up there with [candidates who are] zero, one, two, three percent, maybe four [in the polls] … and have them ask me hostile questions?” he asked the Erie crowd. “And if I don’t go to the debate … they say that ratings are going to be really bad.”
“But now put on your political cap, right? We have to save our country. We have to win. Should I get up there with 10 or 12 hostile people and a hostile network and be abused with terrible accusations?” he continued.
“We’ll see what happens; I haven’t made a commitment one way or the other. Should I do them or not?” he asked.
The 45th president then asked his supporters to cheer yes or no for whether he should do the debates to an audibly split reaction.
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