Trump adviser: GOP should ‘end’ primary debates, focus on Biden

A top adviser to former President Trump’s 2024 campaign argued Wednesday that the GOP should “end” the primary debates to focus attention on defeating President Biden. 

Chris LaCivita, who is also a Republican strategist, said in a tweet toward the end of the second Republican presidential debate that it was “as boring and inconsequential as the first debate” and that nothing said would change the fact that Trump dominates the primary field. 

“The [Republican National Committee] should immediately put an end to any further primary debates so we can train our fire on Crooked Joe Biden and quit wasting time and money that could be going to evicting Biden from the White House,” he said. 

The comment came after seven of Trump’s competitors for the Republican nomination debated for the second time in the race. Trump skipped the debate, as he did for the first debate last month, and instead held a rally speaking to autoworkers in a suburb of Detroit amid the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. 

Trump has remained the clear front-runner in the race, building up a lead of 30 points or more in many polls. He has pointed to his significant lead in polls as his reason for skipping the debates.

A third debate is scheduled for early November in Miami. Trump has suggested that his Republican opponents should debate for the opportunity to be his running mate in the general election.

LaCivita argued ahead of the first debate that it was an “audition” to be part of Trump’s second term.