No Trump, no Haley, no debate: 2nd Republican debate canceled ahead of New Hampshire primary

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is taking a page right out of the Donald Trump playbook: she has refused to take part in any more debates unless Donald Trump shows up, causing a second debate to be canceled on Wednesday.

The CNN debate scheduled for Sunday was canceled, just a day after ABC announced it was canceling its Thursday debate.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor, said she would not take part in any more debates if Trump continued to be a no-show.

Trump has not attended any of the Republican presidential debates. Haley doubled down on her participation refusal, saying that her next debate "will either be with Donald Trump or Joe Biden."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had committed to taking part in both venues, but without Trump and Haley, both debates were scratched.

It is the first time in recent years that there will not be a face-off between presidential candidates ahead of next week's New Hampshire primary election.

Political experts say Haley may have decided not to take part in any future showdowns due to the result of the debate against only DeSantis last week ahead of the Iowa caucuses. She did not perform as well as expected and finished in third place with 19% of the vote, behind DeSantis who received 21%. Trump easily beat both of his opponents with 51% of the vote.

Haley's decision to skip any future debates prompted DeSantis to say she "is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions."

"Trump is confused about his own record. Under Trump's leadership, Republicans lost the House, the Senate, and the White House," Haley posted on X. "I crush Biden by double digits, while Trump barely squeaks by Biden on a good day."

It is unclear whether DeSantis or Haley will drop out of the race if they do not perform well against Trump in the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 16. Analysts believe if Haley can make it past New Hampshire with a good showing and follow that up with decent results in Nevada's primary on Feb. 8, she might be able to head to her home state on Feb. 24 to make a legitimate challenge to the former president in the South Carolina primary.

However, if Haley makes it that far and cannot win her home state, she could likely end her presidential campaign.