The Republican presidential race is gaining momentum: tonight (Wednesday through Thursday), the second debate is expected to take place with the participation of seven candidates - and in the absence of the leading candidate for the party's ticket to the White House, Donald Trump. The former president is also unlikely to participate in the first debate, and judging by the polls, he has no reason to do so either.
Trump in South Carolina, this week, Photo: AP
In RCP's polling average, he garners 56.6% support — 42.4%(!) more than his closest candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is third with 5.8%. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramswami was fourth with 5.1%.
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Former Vice President Mike Pence (4.2%), Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina (2.8%), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (2.7%) and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (0.9%) were also scheduled to participate. Candidate Asa Hutchinson will not participate in the debate because he did not meet the party's threshold conditions.
Visiting the Reagan Center in California, this week. This is where the confrontation will take place, photo: AFP
While the gap in Trump's favor at the top is maintained, in New Hampshire — the second state where the primaries will be held — there are interesting shifts in filling the second place in the polls. A CNN poll in New Hampshire — the second state where the primary will be held — found that after Trump with 39%, Ramswami ranks with 13%, Haley with 12% third, and Ron DeSantis only fourth, with 10%. In a poll by the Institute of Political Science at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire, Trump leads with 45%, Haley is second with 15% and DeSantis is 11%.
Trump, too, despite his great advantage, could find himself in trouble. The reason: His approval rating in New Hampshire is lower than in the United States as a whole, and theoretically if 60% of those who oppose or disapprove of him support an alternative candidate, the state is not in his pocket. On the other hand, history plays in the former president's favor: There has never been a case in which a candidate leading by a large margin like Trump will be defeated in the primary.
Meanwhile, DeSantis has announced that he will take part in a debate in November against California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, apparently as part of his efforts to halt his decline in the polls and bolster his conservative image by continuing his fight against American liberalism. On the other hand, the surprising Vivek Ramswami recently sent a threat to Mexican authorities. In an interview with Fox News, Ramswami said that if elected, the U.S. would not be afraid to invade Mexico to combat local drug cartels, which are spreading their arms across the border.
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