CNN Cancels New Hampshire Debate, Replaces It With Haley Town Hall

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CNN has canceled its Jan. 21 New Hampshire debate and instead scheduled a Town Hall event with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley for Jan. 18.

The Jan. 17 announcement by the network comes just after Ms. Haley announced she would not participate in a debate only with fellow candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

CNN released a statement about the Jan. 21 debate cancellation, saying, “With six days to go until the New Hampshire Primary, CNN is announcing a Town Hall this Thursday, January 18, with former Amb. Nikki Haley with Jake Tapper at 9pm ET from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, following last night’s CNN Town Hall with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Wolf Blitzer.”

The network’s decision came after Ms. Haley finished in third place in the Iowa Republican caucuses, and then announced she would not be participating in two upcoming Republican presidential primary debates.

The former South Carolina governor made the statement on social media. She said that the next time she participates in a debate, she will be on stage beside either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, who has not taken part in any of the Republican primary debates.

“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Ms. Haley posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Jan. 16. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”

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Prior to her announcement, two Republican debates had been planned in New Hampshire—Jan. 18 and Jan. 21—only days after the Iowa caucuses. The primary election for the Granite State will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 23. As of Jan. 16, ABC News, who was to host the Jan. 18 event, called it off after Ms. Haley’s announcement.

CNN’s decision came just after ABC News Vice President of Publicity Van Scott said in a press release emailed to The Epoch Times that the originally scheduled Jan. 18 debate would be canceled due to lack of participation. The network offered Ms. Haley and President Trump until the end of the business day on Jan. 16 to RSVP to the event.

“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,” the spokesperson said. “As a result, while our robust election coverage will continue, ABC News and WMUR-TV will not be moving forward with Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.”

In a speech that she delivered on Jan. 15 after the Iowa contest, Ms. Haley implied that the Republican primary is now between herself and President Trump. She did not mention Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who finished ahead of her—in second place—in the Iowa caucuses.

“I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” she told her supporters at the caucus site in Des Moines.

“Tonight, I will be back in the great state of New Hampshire, and the question before Americans is now very clear: Do you want more of the same, or do you want a new generation of conservative leadership?”

In response to the announcement from the Haley campaign, Mr. DeSantis responded online, saying Ms. Haley was not attending the debates because “she’s running to be Trump’s VP” rather than competing for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

“Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,” Mr. DeSantis posted on X.

“I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”

While President Trump has persisted in avoiding all GOP debates this cycle, Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley faced off at a CNN event in Des Moines on Jan. 10.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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