Trump’s debate strategy: Skip the early ones and bash the media

The first Republican presidential debate is at least three months away, but Donald Trump is already stirring the pot.

He first declared last week on Truth Social that he’s inclined to skip one or both of the first two debates, and he blamed media hostility:

“When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the ‘questions,’ why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?”

That seemed like a pretty forceful statement that he’s going to blow off the early debates – the first one on Fox News, set for August – despite the schedule set by the RNC.

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The former president soon offered a different explanation during a New Hampshire swing: “I have people at one half of 1%, one quarter of 1%, 1%, 3%, 2%, 4%, 7%. And Desanctis (sic) is very low and crashing… We’re at 60 and 70%. Why would you do that?”

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This drew some modest coverage. I found his stance so striking that I devoted a segment to it on last Sunday’s “Media Buzz.”

Then the New York Times did additional reporting for a Tuesday piece, and suddenly the story was everywhere: CNN, NBC, Washington Post, the Hill.

The New York Times Building in Midtown Manhattan.  (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

Before anyone starts hyperventilating, candidates in both parties play this game.

Does anyone really expect President Biden to debate Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr.? RFK, the anti-vax advocate, garnered 19% in a recent poll, but he’s got the last name and provides a safe harbor for the anti-Biden vote. I can’t imagine the President of the United States debating them because he’s a lock for the nomination.

Last fall, Democrat…