ABC News called off its Republican primary debate in New Hampshire on Thursday after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said she would no longer participate if former President Donald Trump failed to show up.
“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” an ABC spokesperson said.
Haley, who finished in third place after the Iowa caucuses, said Tuesday Republicans had already participated in “five great debates in this campaign.” But she challenged Trump and his refusal to appear, saying the former president had “nowhere left to hide.”
“The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden,” she said at the time. “I look forward to it.”
CNN is also scheduled to hold a debate in New Hampshire on Sunday. It’s unclear if that will take place.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also questioned Trump’s decision to duck the debate stage, saying he owed it to Americans to defend his record while in office. But the governor launched his own attack against Haley over her announcement, saying she was “afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions.”
Trump, for his part, has largely ignored the barbs, instead mocking Haley and DeSantis while sitting far ahead of them in the polls.
“The only people who are voting for her are Democrats who are trying to interfere in a Republican primary,” a Trump spokesman said Tuesday.