Former United Nations ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she won't participate in the next scheduled GOP debate unless former President Donald Trump chooses to join.
"We've had five great debates in this campaign," Haley said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it."
The announcement comes one day after the Iowa caucuses, in which Trump blew both Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis out of the water by a large margin of victory. Haley finished third, slightly behind DeSantis, but it appears she is now aiming her campaign at the party front-runner ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Monday.
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Haley went toe-to-toe with DeSantis in the most recent Republican debate last week in Iowa, as both candidates sought to sway any last-minute undecided voters. However, Haley didn't put up a strong performance and ultimately finished 2.1% behind the Florida governor in Monday's caucuses.
The next debate is slated for Thursday and will be hosted by ABC News and WMUR-TV from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire — just four days before primary voting begins in the state. So far, only DeSantis has committed to the event and publicly criticized both Haley and Trump for signaling they won't participate.
"The reality is that she [Haley] is not running for the nomination, she's running to be Trump's VP," DeSantis said in a statement. "I won't snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week."
An ABC spokesperson told the Associated Press that qualified candidates have until 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday to commit to the event. Trump is, again, expected to skip.
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