Former President Trump does not want to debate the other candidates in the Republican presidential primary. That much is clear. He has said all along that he shouldn’t be expected to participate because he is so far ahead in polls.

Trump, who used to poo-poo polls, now lives by them. He is fond of exaggerating his lead but it is substantial in most polls. The truth is Trump feels entitled to the nomination and doesn’t expect to have to work for it.

Voters, other than Trump’s most loyal core supporters, are ready for another candidate to come forward. They do not want another Biden-Trump match-up, fearing that Trump will lose. It’s a logical fear, given that Trump lost in 2020. He has failed to win back independent voters, without whom he cannot win in 2024.

Most Americans, including many Democrats, are sympathetic to the fact that the multiple indictments of Trump is a pretty solid case that the United States has a two-tiered system of justice. The corrupt Biden crime family is a good example. The press only expresses interest in covering any of that mess when it can no longer ignore it. Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was so over-the-top that legacy news channels had to report about it.

The New York Times reports that Trump is planning to sit down for an online interview with his friend Tucker Carlson instead of doing the debate. It will be counter-programming meant to keep attention on Trump and away from his competitors. Will that work? It remains to be seen. Are Republican voters serious about finding an alternative candidate that they think can defeat Joe Biden in November 2024? If it is all lip service for the sake of pollsters, then they will tune in to watch Trump and not compare and contrast the others on the debate stage. The Times alleges that “multiple people briefed on the matter” say he will do an interview with Tucker at the same time as the debate.

As usual, Trump thinks everything is all about him. The debates are not about him, though. They are for the voters. Primary voters want to decide on their own for whom to support. Voters want to hear what they have to say. Yet, according to the NYT, in the past 24 hours, Trump has told people close to him that his mind is made up and he’s not doing the debate in Milwaukee.

Is this is final decision? Who knows? Trump likes to keep people guessing and he may change his mind at the last minute. Does anyone think if Trump decides just hours before the debate airs that Ronna McDaniel will turn him away? I don’t. Trump brings ratings.

Trump has been active on Truth Social and he’s talking about the debate.

Guess Trump won’t be debating

What are your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/T2B6ndulcf

— 🦅 Eagle Wings 🦅 (@CRRJA5) August 18, 2023

Trump has been calling for the Republican Party to come together and the other candidates to get out of the race. I’ll let the irony of that sink in for a minute. Trump prides himself on blowing up the Republican Party and then he calls for the party to unite. And, no candidate has the right to call for other candidates to get out of the race.

Ronna will do whatever Trump wants. Trump has also kept in touch with Fox.

The chairwoman of the R.N.C., Ronna McDaniel, has privately urged Mr. Trump to attend the debate, even traveling to his private club in Bedminster, N.J., last month to make her pitch in person.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump hosted for dinner the Fox News president Jay Wallace and the network’s chief executive, Suzanne Scott, who had gone to Bedminster hoping to persuade Mr. Trump to come to the debate. They left the dinner believing there was a decent chance he would show up, according to two people familiar with the dinner.

So, will Trump really skip the debate? Will voters watch the debate or tune in to Tucker’s interview with Trump? How does this unite the party going into 2024? Trump doesn’t want to debate, doesn’t want to promise to support whoever is the eventual nominee if it isn’t him, and then he calls for the other candidates to clear the field for him. That’s where we are.