Donald Trump has confirmed speculation that he will not attend Monday’s Republican debate, adding that the party has held plenty such forums, anyway.
“We’ve had 11 or 12 debates; I did really well on the last one, I think I’ve done well on all the debates,” he told FOX News, which is sponsoring the event in Salt Lake City. “But I think we’ve had enough.”
The party has had a dozen debates, seven of which have occurred this year. And beyond Monday’s scheduled event, there are no more debates on the calendar. Recent debates have been scheduled ahead of big primary voting days; two took place within a seven-day span around Super Tuesday, and the most recent one happened last Thursday. The next day with a bulk of primary states isn’t for another six weeks, when Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island will vote. The last similar cluster is the final day of primary voting: June 7, which features the massive prize of California.
Trump said he will be speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., instead. AIPAC listed Trump as a confirmed speaker on its website Monday morning.
Update: After John Kasich said that he would debate only with Trump participating, FOX News cancelled the debate. “Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich — or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant. So the Salt Lake City debate is cancelled,” a network official said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.
