Another Republican presidential debate has been canceled after Nikki Haley’s refusal to participate in any forum that doesn’t also include former President Donald Trump, meaning that for the first time in years there will not be an on-the-ground face-off ahead of New Hampshire’s primary next week.
CNN announced Wednesday that it was calling off its debate, which had been scheduled for Sunday at New England College.
That comes a day after ABC and WMUR-TV said they were also canceling Thursday’s debate, planned at Saint Anselm College, following Haley’s assertion that the next debate in which she participates “will either be with Donald Trump or Joe Biden.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had committed to take part in both debates, but with front-runner Trump having skipped all of the GOP debates thus far, Haley’s participation had been the deciding factor in whether they would go on.
The move by the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador could be in part a result of the last debate, which featured only Haley and DeSantis. Haley didn’t perform as well as expected, and DeSantis ultimately ended up beating her for second place in Monday’s lead-off Iowa caucuses.
