The Debate Eight

(foxnews.com posted this photo of Trump on the morning of its GOP presidential candidate debate. At least he's not orange.)

Donald J. Trump will not attend Wednesday evening’s debate. That’s something we have known, on and off for weeks and officially confirmed in recent days. Instead, the former president will huddle with (ex) Fox News-pundit-in-exile Tucker Carlson in a recorded interview on X-Twitter. 

Meanwhile, here’s the lineup for the live GOP presidential debate, according to Fox News. It was scheduled to air from Milwaukee 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern (or 8-10 local time). Moderators are Fox News hosts Brett Baier and Martha McCallum:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur and upstart politician and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will take center stage.

Chris Christie. Fox News’ website virtually guaranteed he will slip from his already low poll numbers by introducing him thusly: “Who is Chris Christie? The former New Jersey governor is a vocal Trump critic popular with Democrats.”

Mike Pence, who “has a rocky relationship with Trump.” (We all know the “too honest” former vice president’s candidacy is going nowhere, anyway.)

Tim Scott. The well-funded senator from South Carolina is looking to “restore hope and create opportunities.”

Nikki Haley. The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador under Trump is “seeking to take on China and Biden.”

And all the rest: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and current North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are the Professor and Mary Ann of the debate, as far as the Fox News website is concerned. The Washington Post notes that Burgum promised $20 gift cards to citizens who helped him meet the requisite number of donations in order to qualify for the debate stage.

--TL

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Macaulay x Two

Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay comments on RICO charges in Georgia against Donald J. Trump and 18 of all his best people in “Being and Somethingness.” Scroll down the page using the trackbar on the far right.

Scroll down further to read Macaulay’s column, “Trump’s Tinkerbell Defense,” about the federal indictment of the ex-president in United States of America v. Donald Trump.

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