(Editor's Note: The following column does not constitute an endorsement for any political party or candidate.)
There should be little wonder why Donald Trump, who leads bigly in GOP primary polls, would forego sound bite debate exchanges with desperate challengers on a media venue that shuns coverage of his enormous rallies for one with a host and that shares common grievances on a competing network that apparently reached a far larger audience.
Approximately 236 million viewers reportedly logged into Trump’s simultaneous prerecorded interview with Tucker Carlson — 19 times the 12.8 million that Nielson ratings showed tuning in to Wednesday evening debates hosted by Fox.
Trump’s conspicuous absence from the stage wasn’t for want of pleading on the part of Fox co-moderator Bret Baier who had reportedly called him four times.
Nor is there any real mystery why he rejected those invitations.
Perhaps consider a rather inelegant analogy of scheduling a globally televised colonoscopy by med school interns and the patient doesn’t show up.
And why would he, when adding all of his primary competitors together would still leave them trailing Trump by double digits?
An Aug. 20 CNN poll showed that Trump led GOP competitors with a 62% total, DeSantis 16%, and with all others in single digits.
As reported on Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight," a McLaughlin & Associates poll released on Thursday now has Trump leading Biden by four percentage points.
All of which highlights that the event was largely irrelevant with regard to impacting the 2024 electorate landscape other than to validate the former president’s policies and achievements the candidates echoed without crediting him: securing the southern border, arresting crime and urban decay, returning energy independence, healing the inflationary economy, and avoiding no-win wars through military and economic strength.
There were no big surprises.
The New York Times gave former South Carolia Governor and U.S. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Hailey the Trump-bashing participation prize for naming him "the most disliked politician in America," who "added $8 trillion to our debt."
Not mentioned was that lots of that money went to restore military defense capabilities that the Obama administration had allowed to deteriorate along with responses to a COVID-19 pandemic that brought about interventions that the Biden administration subsequently claimed credit for.
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were the only ones among six other D-listers to refuse pledges to support a Trump primary win.
Hutchinson, also previously a G.W. Bush Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, slammed Trump as morally disqualified over Jan. 6 Capitol riot charges.
As expected, Wall Street Journal darling Chris Christie appeared to be auditioning for MSNBC as he also blubbered (yes — pun intended) about Trump being morally disqualified for a return to the Oval Office, having previously stated he would have prosecuted him over alleged efforts to block 2020 election results and mishandling of classified documents.
Amid prevalent audience boos, Christie spent most of his pellet gun ammo shooting at the emerging young, glib upstart Vivek Ramaswamy vying to replace lead second-tier contender Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., both of whom focused upon issues favorable to Trump priorities and accomplishments.
Ramaswamy responded, declaring: "President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It's a fact."
He added: “And Chris Christie. Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign were not based on vengeance and grievance against one man."
DeSantis emphasized records of notable Florida leadership achievements including keeping businesses and schools open during the COVID-19 shutdowns in most other states, and prohibiting woke gender and racially divisive indoctrination in schools.
Most unfortunately, neither Fox moderators nor any of those staged addressed the outrageously ugly unfolding specter of a broken, weaponized justice system intent upon nullifying integrity and credibility of the American electoral process altogether through unchecked prosecutorial lawfare.
No one made mention of the nationally humiliating Aug. 24 spectacle of former New York Mayor and personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani — along with 17 co-defendantsc — being subjected to a mug shot and $150,000 consent bond at a Georgia Fulton County jail for RICO Act violations once wielded against Mafia dons.
Who present inside or outside that Milwaukee debate room could then avoid thinking about the upcoming Thursday outrage of witnessing a former president who received more votes than any other incumbent in U.S. history, one who continues to lead all declared challengers of both parties, submitted to the same enragingly scandalous banana republic style tyranny?
According to the Aug 20 CBS poll, 77% of likely GOP voters believe that such Trump indictments - now in four jurisdictions with a fifth expected soon in Arizona - are politically motivated.
Underscoring this reality is blatant media, FBI and DOJ partisanship evidenced by dismissal of demons in Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell, and a sham sweetheart deal that allowed the statute of limitations to expire on felony tax charges and offered blanket immunity from other criminal offenses potentially connecting to his "pops," the "Big guy" who gets 50%.
The big point here is that Trump's base of supporters — and there are many — already know and highly value his accomplishments.
They see them starkly contrasted by abject Biden administration failures impacting diverse aspects of lives and futures.
The only debate venue that truly matters will be determined in October 2024 ballot boxes.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.
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