Days before caucuses, GOP candidates hold clashing events

DES MOINES — Former President Donald Trump will skip a televised debate five days before Iowa’s caucuses featuring GOP rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley and will instead hold a competing event at the same time.

And presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who failed to qualify for the CNN debate stage, also will hold his own event at the same time.

The end result: Three clashing Republican campaign events in Des Moines.

They all are scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Jan. 10. Iowa's Republican caucuses will be held Jan. 15.

Florida Gov. DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Haley will participate in the CNN debate, which the network announced last month, at Drake University. To participate in the debate, a candidate had to receive at least 10 percent support in three national and/or Iowa polls — limiting participation to DeSantis, Haley and Trump.

But Trump, who leads the field in polling, will skip it and instead participate in a live Fox News town hall from Des Moines, which will air at the same time. The town hall will be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the network announced Tuesday.

Haley, DeSantis call on Trump to debate

Haley and DeSantis criticized Trump’s refusal to participate in the debate, which likely will be the last time candidates face off head-to-head before the caucuses.

“With only three candidates qualifying, it’s time for Donald Trump to show up,” Haley said in a statement Tuesday. “As the debate stage continues to shrink, it’s getting harder for Donald Trump to hide.”

DeSantis campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo blasted Trump for skipping the debate and said he must defend his policies while president.

"We understand Donald Trump is scared to get on the stage because he'd have to finally explain why he didn't build the wall, added nearly $8 trillion to the debt and turned the country over to Fauci,” Romeo said, referring to Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical adviser during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “But even (Democratic California Gov.) Gavin Newsom had the courage to stand on the stage to debate his own failed record against Ron DeSantis. If it would make the debate more inviting, we would gladly agree to make it a seated format where the former president would be more comfortable."

Trump has skipped the last four GOP primary debates, arguing his dominance in polling means he does not need to debate his opponents. In a statement last month, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump is “dominating every single poll by historic margins” when asked if he would participate in the CNN debate.

"These other candidates are currently sitting at the kid's table, wishing they could graduate to the adult table,” Cheung said.

Ramaswamy also holds competing event

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In a statement Tuesday, the Ohio biotech entrepreneur’s campaign called CNN a "ratings wasteland" and accused the network of being biased against Ramaswamy.

The campaign announced the candidate would participate in a live-audience town hall hosted by Tim Pool, a podcast host whose channel, "Timcast IRL," has 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube. Pool's podcast will be hosted live in-studio in Des Moines from Jan. 10 to Jan. 15, Ramaswamy's campaign said.

“Forget (CNN’s) fake Iowa ‘debate’ on Jan 10 which will be the most boring in modern history,” Ramaswamy said on social media. “We’re doing a live-audience show that night in Des Moines with (Tim Pool) instead. Won’t hold back.”