The Trump campaign on Monday confirmed that Donald Trump Jr., son of the former President, would serve as a media surrogate in Wisconsin during the first GOP debate of the 2024 campaign season.
Trump Jr., along with this fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was an adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, are expected to attend Wednesday night’s debate and do media appearances to support their shows on the online video platform, Rumble.
The news comes after former President Trump on Sunday suggested on his Truth Social media platform that he would not attend Wednesday’s debate—or any Republican primary debate—as he is by far the leading GOP primary candidate in public opinion polls.
Instead, Trump is expected to take part in a one-on-one interview with Tucker Carlson on Wednesday rather than join the debate against his fellow GOP primary candidates—televised on Carlson’s former employer, Fox News.
Wednesday’s debate is the first of the 2024 primary season. It’s set to take place just a little over a week after Trump was indicted on 13 criminal counts in Georgia, including racketeering, related to attempts to overturn that state’s 2020 Presidential election. The debate is also taking place just days before an August 25 deadline set by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for Trump to “voluntarily surrender” or face an arrest warrant.
Besides Trump, at least eight other Republican Presidential candidates have qualified for Wednesday’s debate hosted by the Republican National Committee: Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, former Vice President Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Trump Jr. posted on social media Monday, “We’re excited to see all of our friends in Milwaukee who want to Make America Great Again!!!”
