In a debate with Ken Cuccinelli, founder of Never Back Down, a PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's 2024 run, Dick Morris, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, argued on Newsmax Monday that the two Republican primary candidates shouldn't debate yet.
While appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Morris posited that Trump should not debate the other GOP candidates as it would do nothing for his campaign.
Laying out his point, Morris said, "Nobody on Earth thinks Trump is running away from anything."
"This guy has stood up and fought back, and he's taken everything the deep state could throw at him. And shown tremendous guts. … Why should he give these other guys the stage?"
Pushing back, Cuccinelli said "whether Trump shows up or not" for a debate "is his call."
"I think voters expect to be respected, and that includes people showing up and asking for their vote," he said. "You know, Trump didn't come to Iowa this weekend to the largest forum of candidates in the first state for the same reasons that Dick just cited, and he lost from it.
"I think that's good for us as Americans to see" a debate, Cuccinelli continued. "... And Governor DeSantis frankly brings the deepest record from a conservative standpoint and the most heat."
Morris maintained his point that Trump is not "afraid of anything." The adviser to Trump also noted that despite being arrested and in the political elites' crosshairs for years, the former president has persisted with his campaign.
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