Fox News has informed the Trump campaign that surrogates for the former president will not be permitted to attend the initial Republican primary debate. This decision follows Donald Trump’s announcement that he will not be participating in the event, scheduled to air on Fox News, as reported by CNN’s Alayna Treene on Monday.
Surrogates for any candidate who did not qualify for the debate stage will also be barred from attending the debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. This prohibition is not exclusive to Trump and his team; it applies universally to those who did not meet the debate criteria.
Notably, Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, previously indicated that he would participate in the debate as a surrogate for his father. Kimberly Guilfoyle, his fiancée, was anticipated to be present as well, overseeing media affairs for the former president during the event.
Other Trump supporters and campaign affiliates, including Kari Lake, an unsuccessful Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, and Representatives Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), had also planned to attend the debate, as reported by Treene. Despite this exclusion, members of Trump’s campaign team and surrogates are still intending to travel to Milwaukee. They are collaborating with Fox News and the Republican National Committee to secure access to the post-debate “spin room,” where discussions and interviews often occur.
Requests for comment from Fox News and the Trump campaign have not been answered by the time of this report.
In his announcement on Sunday, Donald Trump revealed his decision to skip the first GOP debate and potentially others, citing his high polling numbers.
Several prominent figures, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, have met the donor and polling criteria set by the Republican National Committee. They have pledged to support the eventual GOP nominee and have thus earned the right to participate in the debate on Wednesday.
