This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/politics/wisconsin-republicans-prepare-for-first-gop-presidential-debate-with-or-without-trump/mkittle/2023/08/17/

Brian Schimming is one busy guy these days.

Schimming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, is spending a lot of time fielding calls from media, campaigns and fellow Republicans preparing to descend on Milwaukee next Wednesday for the first debate of the presidential primary season.

The big question, of course: Will he or won’t he?

That is, will former President Donald Trump attend the GOP presidential candidate debate, broadcast live on Fox News.

“The truth is, I don’t know,” Schimming told The Wisconsin Daily Star this week on the Vicki McKenna Show on NewsTalk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee. “Even some of his people are like, ‘Hey, he may be there, he may not.’ He may say he’s not going to be there now but wake up that morning and say, ‘Fire up the jet.’”

Last week, the former president told Newsmax that he’s already decided whether he’ll attend but he won’t announce his plans until days before the debate. That announcement could come anytime. Or not at all.

There’s a lot of speculation.

The latest theory being pushed by NBC News is that Trump could time his appearance in Fulton County (GA) Court to coincide with debate day, creating a media feeding frenzy and diverting attention from the Republican presidential primary showdown. Trump, who was indicted Monday on multiple charges of so-called election interference felony violations, could stick it to the Republican National Committee and Fox News, both of which he has feuded with, as the theory goes.

NBC reporters described Trump showing up for booking on the day of the debate as the former president’s “O.J. Simpson-in-the-Bronco spectacle” moment.

“The potential to embarrass the Republican National Committee, which is hosting the debate, and Fox News, which is airing it, could make a jailhouse counter-programming opportunity all the more alluring to Trump at a time when his relationships with those pillars of the conservative establishment are strained,” the news outlet speculated.

Fox News journalists Bret Bair and Martha MacCallum, moderators for the debate, told German-owned Politico that, Trump or no Trump, they’ll be ready. No matter what, the former president will cast a big shadow on the event.

“If he’s not there, he’ll still be there,” Baier said. “In other words, he’ll be a part of questioning. There may be sound bites, there may be elements where ‘this is what the leader of the primary says about this issue.’ He’ll be there, even if he’s not there.”

As Wisconsin GOP chairman, Schimming said he hopes Trump is there.

“I want him to be on stage,” he said. “Look, he’s a big boy. He can handle himself. But he’s also double digits ahead. So take Trump out of it, the political calculus for most candidates when they’re that far ahead is, ‘Why would I take the risk of putting myself on the stage with five, six, or seven other people, including my former vice president, who are going to take shots?’”

“Trump’s gone a long way on his political savvy.”

After four indictments in what Trump and other critics have described as a political witch-hunt driven by Trump-hating allies of President Joe Biden, the former president is dominating the polls. Trump leads his closest competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, by nearly 55 percentage points, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of Republican presidential primary polls.

Regardless of Trump’s decision, Schimming said Milwaukee and the battleground state of Wisconsin will still have an international media event going on next Wednesday.

“And we’ll be able to highlight Wisconsin and our Republican reforms in Wisconsin versus what we’ve got now in the governor’s office [Democrat Governor Tony Evers} and what you have in Joe Biden,” the state Republican Party chairman said. “So, to me, it’s a good night.”

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Presidential Debate” by Walt Disney Television. CC BY-ND 2.0.

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