Dick Morris, political strategist and host of "Dick Morris Democracy," told Newsmax Thursday that it's "crazy" for former President Donald Trump to take part in Fox News' GOP presidential debate this August, especially since the network wants the next president to be "ABT — Anybody But Trump."
An adviser to both Trump and former President Bill Clinton, Morris wrote a Newsmax Op-Ed piece on Wednesday titled, "Trump Should Boycott Fox Debate." He reiterated several key points from his piece while appearing on "American Agenda."
Morris compared the idea of Trump appearing at Fox News' Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to "going before a firing squad with 12 other candidates, and every one of them is going to be shooting at him."
"On top of that, Bret Baier is going to be the host of it," he said, referencing the heated interview between Trump and the Fox News host last month.
"We already know that when Baier went one-on-one with Trump, all he was doing was asking questions from the indictment: 'Why did you take the files?' 'Why did you do this?' 'Why did you obstruct this?' Just absolutely regurgitating the talking points that [special counsel Jack] Smith wrote in the indictment."
Trump spoke about Fox News while calling in to "Eric Bolling The Balance" last month, stating that the "hostile network" is "prejudiced" against him. In May, The New York Times reported that Trump might skip the debate in Milwaukee, and asked why he would have Baier question him.
"Fox News is so much against Trump," Morris emphasized. "They were for [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, now it looks like they're moving to [former South Carolina Gov.] Nikki Haley. But it's ABT — Anybody But Trump.' And it's crazy for him to be in a debate sponsored by Fox News."
Morris suggested to hosts Bob Sellers and Katrina Szish that instead of Trump participating in that debate, "Newsmax should sponsor an event with Trump speaking, maybe being interviewed by ... who knows, maybe Tucker Carlson or somebody else ... where he can make the case for his candidacy.
"And I think he should say, 'Listen, let the RINOs [Republicans In Name Only] watch the debate of the Republican Committee, and let the MAGA people watch me give a speech at that time,' and do it at the exact same time. I'll bet you we outdraw them two to one."
The strategist also pointed out that Trump doesn't really need to enter the debate because he's so far ahead of his GOP competition. A June poll from McLaughlin & Associates showed the former president winning Iowa by 51% of the vote, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 19%.
"DeSantis is so obviously a failure," Morris said. "But I think it's important to understand that DeSantis never stood up there and said, 'I'd be a great president.' … He stood up there and he said, 'I'd be as good as Trump. I'd be Trump Light. I would be Trump without the baggage and the anger and the fury going on.' And people said, 'No, we want the real thing.'
"The difference between Trump and [a] Trump wannabe is that Trump's been president," he continued. "We've seen what he can do. This is not speculative. We're not hoping that he takes care of the border; he sealed it. We're not hoping that he's able to kindle growth without inflation; he did it.
"What we're looking at here is a record. It's a synthesis of the incumbent to the challenger. He's a challenger against Biden, but he has his own records as an incumbent to ratify the claims that he's making and in the predictions that he's making."
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