CNN’s Kate Bolduan said Tuesday that she cannot see how former President Donald Trump could have a “losing night” on Wednesday during the GOP debate.
Trump announced Sunday that he would not attend Wednesday’s debate or, seemingly, any future primary debates.
“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History & much more. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump currently leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his closest competitor, by over 40 points in the Real Clear Politics national polling average.
Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson is set to release a pre-taped interview with Trump just as Wednesday’s debate begins.
“[Which candidate] has the most to win, who has the most to lose?” Bolduan asked during the CNN segment. (RELATED: CNN Set Cannot Contain Off-Screen Laughter As Clip Rolls Of GOP Candidate Prepping For Debate)
Kevin Sheridan, a former senior adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, named DeSantis in response to both questions, prompting pushback from CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers.
“I somewhat disagree with my friend and my colleague today about who has the most the lose and who has the most the gain and that being Ron DeSantis, and the reason being is because we have DeSantis’ work product,” Sellers said, arguing that DeSantis debates “poorly.” He also predicted that the “bottom will fall out” of Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign.
Sellers said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former governor Nikki Haley might have a big win on Wednesday, but that it would be “short-lived” because of how quickly the news cycle moves.
“Kevin, what do you think could equate to a losing night for Donald Trump? I have a hard time seeing what a losing night for Donald Trump is tomorrow night,” Bolduan said.
“I don’t know how he loses. Certainly he’s not going to lose with his base,” Sheridan said. ” We know that anything could happen and they would stick with him. But, you know, the worst thing that could happen for Donald Trump is that one of the candidates emerges as the alternative to Donald Trump and the one percenters start to get pressured to get off the stage and get out of the race. And so, if that happens, right now, we don’t have, you know — other than Ron DeSantis, there has not been an alternative emerge. And if that happens, somebody puts on an electric performance tomorrow night, it can happen, then maybe that shifts the race.”