According to a new report, surrogates for Donald Trump will no longer be allowed at the Fox News debate on Wednesday night.
Here’s the reporting via a CNN political reporter:
NEW: Fox News, which is hosting the first GOP primary debate, informed the Trump campaign today they will no longer allow surrogates for the former president to attend the debate in Milwaukee given Trump is not planning on participating, 3 sources with direct knowledge tell @CNN
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 21, 2023
Several of Trump’s advisers & top surrogates had been planning to attend the debate & represent Trump in the spin room despite his absence. Kari Lake, Reps. Byron Donalds & Matt Gaetz & other Republicans were slated to attend. Top Trump advisers were also planning to be there
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
Team Trump and his surrogates still believe they’ll be able to attend and are trying to get new credentials to show up in the spin room:
Members of Trump's teams & his surrogates, however, are still planning on traveling to Milwaukee & are working on a resolution with the network as well as the RNC, two Trump advisers told CNN.
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
The former president's aides also believe they will be able to find new credentials, one of the advisers said, and are confident they will be in the spin room on Wednesday
Fox News did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
Why would they need to be there? If Trump doesn’t feel he needs to be there, then he shouldn’t feel the need to have his campaign or surrogates there. It sounds like he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too.
UPDATE: This CNN reporter deleted her tweets and posted some clarifications. Turns out this is about the spin room, not the overall debate.
Deleted a previous tweet to clarify my reporting:
Fox News, which is hosting the first GOP primary debate, informed the Trump campaign on Monday they will no longer provide credentials to some Trump surrogates to attend the spin room given Trump is not planning on participating— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
Several Trump advisers & top surrogates had been planning to attend both the debate & represent the former president in the spin room despite his absence
Some of Trump’s surrogates are credentialed through outside media groups and will not be impacted
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
Members of Trump’s campaign, including his senior advisers, were also planning on being in the spin room.
But Fox News is in charge of credentials for the spin room. The RNC manages credentials for the actual debate, and sources said those tickets are still expected be honored.
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
Members of Trump's teams and his surrogates, however, are still planning on traveling to Milwaukee and are working on a resolution with the network as well as the RNC, two Trump advisers told CNN
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023
The former president's aides also believe they will be able to find new credentials, one of the advisers said, and say they are confident they will be in the spin room on Wednesday
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 22, 2023