Former President Donald Trump was pressed to appear at the Republican presidential debate by Fox News executives at a dinner on Tuesday.
The dinner was reportedly held at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, attended by Fox News President Jay Wallace and the network’s CEO, Suzanne Scott.
So far, Trump has said he will not attend the first GOP primary debate.
Trump has also been frustrated with Bret Baier, the Fox News anchor set to moderate the first Republican presidential debate alongside Martha MacCallum.
Trump called Baier “nasty” after a recent interview between the two in June.
As The Post Millennial notes, Trump has hesitated to commit to appearing at the first debate as it may present an opportunity for his primary opponents to seize a “moment” in which they may land a shot on him, according to the New York Times. The outlet claims the dinner was described as being “cordial” in its conduct.
“Why would we debate? That would be stupid to go out there with that kind of lead,” one Trump adviser previously told CNN.
Earlier this year, Trump trashed Fox News and Rupert Murdoch over their election coverage and “election fraud.”
“How does Rupert Murdoch say there was no election fraud when 2000 Mules shows, on government tape, that there were millions of ‘stuffed ballots,’ & Elon Musk released the FBI/Twitter Files, where pollsters say that the silencing of information made a 17% difference in the Vote,” Trump asked.
Trump’s attack on Murdoch came amid a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox, which claims the network defamed its voting tech by sharing Trump’s claims.
As The Hill reported, the candidates who have qualified for the first GOP debate include former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
READ: Trump: It’s Time to Make China Pay for the ‘Damage They’ve Inflicted upon All of Humanity’
