OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
ABC has decided to cancel a scheduled debate between GOP presidential contenders Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley after the latter decided to opt-out, vowing that her next one “will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden.”
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them,” Haley said in a statement, per the Daily Wire. “He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I have will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
The former South Carolina governor made these remarks one day following the Iowa caucuses. In this contest, Trump emerged as the clear victor, securing 51% of the vote. DeSantis came in second with 21%, while Haley secured the third spot with 19%.
It’s worth noting that Haley had invested heavily in Iowa, with her political campaign spending more money in the state than any other candidate. Approximately $37 million was allocated to pro-Haley advertisements in Iowa through January 12, surpassing the $35 million spent on pro-DeSantis ads and the approximately $18 million used for pro-Trump ads. However, there are expectations of a more favorable performance for Haley in New Hampshire, where she has consistently polled strongly as the second candidate behind Trump, the Daily Wire added.
A survey conducted for the UK’s Daily Mail found that, in the last debate between Haley and DeSantis ahead of the caucuses in Iowa, 55 percent of viewers said DeSantis won while 31 percent thought Haley did.
On the X platform, DeSantis expressed a dim view of Haley backing out of the next debate.
“Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,” DeSantis wrote.
“The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP. I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week,” he added.
Haley has said, however, that she’s not running to be Trump’s VP.
“I’m not interested in being vice president,” she recently told CBS News. “I’m running to be president, and I’m running to win, and we will.”
On Monday evening, as the ballots were being tallied, some supporters of the former president said they would like to see him select business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the ’24 race following his distant finish behind most of the field.
But Trump aide Jason Miller told the New York Post that supporters who favor Ramaswamy could “probably” rule him out a day after Trump unleashed a verbal attack on his now-former competitor.
The former president accused Ramaswamy of being “sly,” having “deceitful campaign tricks,” and not being MAGA during a blistering attack on Saturday on Truth Social.
“Pretty safe to say it won’t be Vivek,” Miller told The Post.
The biotech mogul has previously said he is not a “plan B person,” while Trump said in August that Ramaswamy could be a “very good” vice president, The Post added.
That said, Ramaswamy has already endorsed Trump.
Ramaswamy, who had no prior political experience when he entered the 2024 race, gained national attention and experienced a brief surge in the polls by advocating popular ideas and repeatedly praising Trump.
Following Monday’s caucuses, in which he was projected to place fourth, Ramaswamy declared the suspension of his presidential campaign.
“It is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight,” Ramaswamy said. “As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign. Earlier tonight, I called Donald Trump to tell him that I congratulated him on his victory. And now, going forward, he will have my full endorsement for the presidency.”
