Chris LaCivita, an adviser to former President Trump, trashed the second GOP debate, calling on the Republican National Committee to nix future debate plans and back his candidate instead.
“Tonight’s GOP debate was as boring and inconsequential as the first debate, and nothing that was said will change the dynamics of the primary contest being dominated by President Trump,” LaCivita said in a statement.
The second debate on Wednesday night, which Trump chose to skip, was more chaotic than the first, marked by continuous cross-talk and moderators who struggled to control the conversation. For that reason, many considered Trump to be one of the event’s biggest winners — even without attending.
LaCivita cited Trump’s large leads in primary polls in questioning whether further debates were necessary.
“President Trump has a 40- or 50-point lead in the primary election and a 10-point lead over Joe Biden in the general election, and it’s clear that President Trump alone can defeat Biden,” he said. “The RNC 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.”
General election polls have gone both ways, with some showing Trump with a lead and others preferring President Biden. A new poll from The Economist and YouGov, released Wednesday, showed Biden with a 5-point lead over the former president, an increase from last month.
However, primary polls show Trump still has a large advantage over his GOP rivals.
According to national polling averages, Trump holds about 54 percent support in the GOP primary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing with 14 percent support and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in third with about 6 percent support.
LaCivita also signaled Trump will not attend the race’s third debate, scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami.