George Conway: ‘No reason’ for Trump to attend GOP debate

George Conway, a lawyer and conservative critic of former President Trump, said he agrees with Trump’s reported decision to forgo next week’s Republican primary debate Friday.

“These are words … difficult for me to say, but I agree with Donald Trump. I think he’s doing the right thing by Donald Trump,” Conway told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on Friday. “I don’t see the upside for him to appear at this debate. All it does is give his opponents a chance to take free shots at him.”

“With his commanding lead, there really is no reason for him to show up and take the downside risk of running into the Chris Christie truck,” he added.

Conway, however, conceded that it would be better for voters to see him on stage.

“I think it’s better for the voters to see him and to hear him respond to the attacks, but just looking at it from his interests, he’s doing the right thing,” he said.

A report Friday said Trump plans to skip next week’s debate in Milwaukee and instead sit down for an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.

Asked about Trump’s most recent indictment in Georgia, the outspoken Trump critic called it “a very, very strong case.”

“I think the evidence is overwhelming against him,” Conway continued, but said it is a “more complex case” than the Justice Department special counsel’s probe into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“It’s an interesting contrast to put the cases up against each other,” he told CNN. “One is rather simple, straightforward, kind of like a bullet. The other one is more like an air raid. And it’s … going to be more complex. It’s going to take longer.”

“But I think there’s a utility to it, because you get to see the scope of the damage and the harm that Trump caused,” he added.