CNN announced on Wednesday that it was canceling next week’s GOP presidential primary debate in New Hampshire after Nikki Haley said she’d only participate if Republican frontrunner Donald Trump did, leaving the network with just one candidate willing to take the stage.
In its place, CNN said it would now hold a town hall event with Haley in the early primary state. The former South Carolina governor will sit down with CNN anchor Jake Tapper at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, on Thursday evening. On Tuesday, the network held a similar town hall with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“CNN is no longer moving forward with a New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary Debate, as only one qualifying candidate accepted our invitation to take the stage,” a CNN spokesperson said on Wednesday. “We will continue to pursue other opportunities as the campaign season progresses through 2024, including candidate Town Halls.”
Following her third-place finish in the Iowa caucus Monday night, Haley declared that the Republican primary had become a two-person race between herself and Trump, even though she came in behind DeSantis. She added on Tuesday morning that she’d only debate Trump, who has skipped all of the previous GOP debates, or President Joe Biden moving forward.
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them,” she said in a statement. “He has nowhere left to hide.”
CNN’s cancellation comes a day after ABC News dropped its planned New Hampshire debate, citing the lack of participation by Trump and Haley. “Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race,” an ABC spokesperson said.
