ABC Cancels New Hampshire Debate After Nikki Haley Says She Won’t Show
ABC News announced Tuesday that it’d canceled its Republican primary debate that was slated to be held in New Hampshire on Thursday, citing Nikki Haley’s refusal to attend without Donald Trump—who is yet to debate this cycle and is unlikely to—as reason. “Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” an ABC spokesperson said in a statement. ABC said it had set a deadline of Tuesday afternoon for Trump and Haley’s campaign to confirm their attendance, but neither responded. Haley said earlier Tuesday that she’d only debate Trump or Joe Biden moving forward, writing in a statement, “We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide.” Haley finished third in the Iowa caucuses on Monday with 19 percent of the vote. Trump received 51 percent of the vote and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished with 21 percent.
