The second 2024 Republican presidential primary debate ended just as it began: with former President Donald Trump – who hasn’t yet appeared alongside his rivals onstage – as the party’s dominant front-runner.
Seven Republicans vying to be their party’s top alternative to Donald Trump in the 2024 race could seek to make the former president the central character in their second primary debate – even as Trump is skipping the California showdown for a rally in Michigan.
Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP presidential primary race, may not get a welcome from union leaders as warm as President Joe Biden did in Michigan when he skips the second GOP debate and instead addresses current and former union members outside Detroit.
The candidates who will gather for the second Republican presidential debate this week face an unusual challenge: how to take on a front-runner who’s not on stage and is already acting as if he’s the nominee.