Trump Sends Representatives to Second GOP Debate

A group of surrogates will stand in for former President Donald Trump at tomorrow night’s second Republican National Committee debate in California while he meets with striking United Auto Workers in Michigan.

Semafor reported Tuesday that the list of surrogates includes 2022 Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, advisor Chris LaCivita, and Florida’s Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera.

Other Trump team members will be on the ground with signs and posters promoting the former president, the report said.

Meanwhile, Trump and two others will go to Michigan Wednesday and participate in an event with the striking auto union members around the same time as the debate, and a day after a scheduled visit by President Joe Biden.

Reuters reported Tuesday that Biden was expected to join picketing workers in Wayne County, Michigan, around noon, marking the first time in a century that a sitting president has shown such public support for labor unions.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that seven candidates qualified to be on the stage for the second RNC debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Trump has a more than 40-point lead over DeSantis, in second place, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling website, followed by Ramaswamy, Haley, and Pence in that order.

Christie, Scott, and Burgum each have less than 3% in the polling.

A weekend poll from NBC News found that voters are concerned about the age of both Biden and Trump, and by the former president’s legal problems.

The worst news, however, went to Biden. The poll showed that less than 40% of voters like the way he is handling the economy.

“This survey is a startling flashing red light for an incumbent party,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted the poll together with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt and his team at Hart Research Associates. “Yes, the numbers for Biden aren’t where he needs them to be. But the lens for most voters is still through Donald Trump first.”

Despite Trump’s legal issues, including four indictments, 59% of Republicans surveyed in the poll said he is their first choice for the GOP nomination.