Donald Trump’s son defends ex-president’s decision to skip Republican debate - ‘Waste of time!’

Eric Trump, the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organisation, believes his father’s absence will only serve to boost his chances.

Speaking on GB News to Nigel Farage, he claimed Trump will get more “airtime” by skipping the debate.

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“My father’s going to get a much larger audience at that time than the Fox debate”, he said.

“He is winning the Republican nomination by 65 per cent in some polls, the next person isn’t even close.

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“The point of debates is learning about candidates and understanding their positions, I think my father is probably the most outspoken person in the entire world over the past seven years, I don’t think he needs to introduce himself to anyone.

“What’s the point of wasting your time? Especially when you know some of these people are just out for blood.”

Recent polls have consistently shown that Trump is currently the front-runner for the nomination, despite him facing a number of criminal charges.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump confirmed he would not attend the debate, while also pointing to the latest poll.

He said: “The public knows who I am and what a successful Presidency I had.”

Trump’s decision to swerve the opening debate comes as little surprise, given he has indicated in recent months that this would likely be the case.

He is planning to sit for a pre-recorded interview with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which could run during the first debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday, according to CBS.

Eric Trump told GB News that his father is likely to get more “airtime” by steering clear.

“There is no sense of him stepping on that stage. If I was him, I wouldn’t do so”, he said.

“I think he is going to get much more views and airtime by not stepping on that stage.”

Trump is facing several criminal charges and is set to go on trial on multiple occasion in the coming 18 months, all while he is campaigning for a second presidential term.

The former US president has repeatedly lashed out at the various charges against him, dubbing them a political “witch-hunt”.

Republican presidential hopefuls must meet several qualifications to attend the debate, while also receiving donations from at least 40,000 individuals and obtaining at least one per cent in high-quality polling.

former Vice-President Mike Pence, Mr DeSantis, Mr Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott are the only candidates confirmed to have qualified so far.