Former President Donald Trump won’t be participating in the first GOP presidential debate of the primary season — but, if reports are accurate, he could still be the one making all the headlines, and not just because of his absence.
In an appearance on CNN Friday, former Trump campaign adviser Jason Osborne suggested that Trump could turn himself in for booking on Wednesday — the day when the GOP field, minus its biggest name, first convenes on a debate stage in Milwaukee — on charges related to election interference in Georgia.
Trump has until noon Friday to turn surrender. The front-runner for the nomination confirmed in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that he wouldn’t be taking part in the debate — but when the issue was being discussed on CNN’s “The Source” Friday that issue was still up in the air. Trump had strongly hinted he wouldn’t be appearing, given he believes Fox News, which is hosting the event, is “hostile” toward him.
“Donald Trump right now, is not expected to show up,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said during the segment.
“He has until Monday at nine o’clock to make that official, I guess. Candidates are kind of having to prepare. Does he show up? Does he not? They’re kind of prepping for two different debates, potentially.”
“I don’t think they should be, though,” said former Obama administration staffer Ashley Allison. “I think you should be very clear in your vision of what you want to do as president, regardless of Donald Trump. And that has to be, ‘I’m either going to say Donald Trump was wrong,’ and be very clear whether he’s on the debate stage or not.”
“I agree,” Osborne said, and thence up with an alternative plan of action the former president could take.
“I’m [at] about a 30 percent chance this is going to happen, but I think Donald Trump is going to turn himself in either right before the debate or during the debate, which will suck all the oxygen out of the room,” he said.
“And then Fox is stuck having to air the debate, whereas you and other networks are able to say, ‘Wait a minute, Donald Trump has actually just turned himself in.’ And then there’s Tucker Carlson waiting on the steps of the courthouse able to interview him right there.”
The debate is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Collins had noted, earlier in the show, that Trump “is expected to sit, for an interview, with Tucker Carlson, that night, snubbing the network that is hosting the debate and, of course, fired Tucker Carlson,” according to a CNN transcript.
Doing it from the courthouse steps right after the arraignment, however, is next-level showmanship — which, as we all know, is Trump’s stock in trade.
Beyond the showmanship, however, is a deeper message: Donald Trump is going to treat these charges every bit as seriously as they deserve to be treated.
Although it seems like so many more by this point, we’re on indictment No. 4 right now — all conveniently filed in 2023, just as the presidential race started, for alleged acts that date as far back as 2016 and mostly dealing with events that happened before 2021. What’re the odds?
Of these four indictments, only one has the tocsin of gravity about it: The classified documents case, which is a bit more nettlesome than Trump or those around him would like to admit.
That’s still just a .250 batting average — not particularly good in the majors, and certainly not good in the prosecutorial arena. It also doesn’t help that numerous other politicians, including the two Democratic candidates Trump has faced in presidential election — their names are Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden — have dealt with similar problems regarding mishandling classified information and no charges were pressed.
As for the Georgia case, it’s impossible to sum up all the ways that the prosecutors’ case is thoroughly unserious, but let me encapsulate by presenting you with a tweet the indictment insists was “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia:
Georgia hearings now on @OANN. Amazing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2020
Yes, according to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump going on Twitter and telling supporters to watch Georgia election integrity hearings on One America News Network was a cunning act of illicit political intrigue. I append no comment.
That’s not to say that Trump’s surrender on the day of the debate wouldn’t be a gamble. Trump would still be reminding Republican voters that he’s under indictment — under quite a few of them, actually — while a number of alternatives who aren’t so encumbered are speaking on another channel.
Furthermore, early debates are often breakout moments for lesser-known candidates. Kamala Harris likely wouldn’t have secured her vice-presidential gig in 2020 without a brutal viral takedown of Joe Biden’s hypocrisies on race.
Likewise, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard wouldn’t have become an influential voice in American politics if it wasn’t for a similarly beautiful takedown of Kamala’s hypocrisy on drug use. That more or less ended Kamala’s presidential ambitions even as she’d put herself in a position to become veep.
Could Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis use the juxtaposition of Trump on the courthouse steps and himself on the debate stage to reboot his image as the adult in the room? Could upstart Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s become the latest “Trumpism without Trump” flavor of the week, remind voters that while these cases are politically motivated, they still represent baggage that he doesn’t have to carry? Could Mike Pence draw blood by sternly lecturing the former … oh, come on, I can’t even type that without laughing.
The point is that, wondrous though this debate/courthouse spectacle might be, it’s not without considerable risk. But then, Trump has proved to be adept in the art of the calculated political risk in campaigns past — and he’s not going to let a risible indictment cramp his style.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
