JUST IN: Trump Plans Revealed For Fourth GOP Debate

Former President Donald Trump continues to stonewall the Republican National Committee’s repeated attempts to cajole him onto the debate stage with his competitors.

On Thursday the Republican frontrunner announced he intends to hold an “end of the year” fundraiser in Hallandale Beach, Florida, advertising the opportunity for tickets to his millions of followers. The event will take place on December 6th, the same evening when his also-ran rivals go head to head in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a fourth debate sponsored by NewsNation, The Megyn Kelly Show on Sirius XM, the Washington Free Beacon, and Rumble.

Sources close to President Trump cited waning interest in the GOP debates, which so far have underperformed without him and forced previous sponsors like Fox News to slash their advertising rates in the face of slugging viewership. Trump and his allies have called on RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to cancel the remainder of the debate season, bragging that he is ahead by “too many points” to participate in them.

In a sign that the RNC may be starting to take a hint, the committee is considering a proposal next week to let GOP presidential contenders participate in unofficial debates and forums. Strict rules governing the debate schedule have threatened to deny candidates future opportunities at official debates if they strayed from the RNC’s format.

People familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that the RNC has not scheduled any future debates.

On Thursday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once a top rival to Trump for the nomination, duked it out with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Fox News. DeSantis has previously called for “more freewheeling debates” that let competitors directly challenge one another and challenged President Trump to one-on-one debates, something less likely to happen than flying pigs given his faltering poll numbers.

During previous debates, President Trump has sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson that surpassed the first debate’s ratings. He spoke before union members protesting in Michigan, a move that “terrified” advisors to President Joe Biden, and held a Florida rally that reminded viewers about his ability to command massive crowds of adoring fans.

The dash to qualify for the stage threatens to leave some out some of the candidates who qualified for previous debates. To make the stage, candidates must garner at least 6 percent in two approved national polls, or 6 percent in one poll from two separate early-voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. Participants also need to amass at least 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory, in 20 or more states.

According to Five Thirty Eight polling averages, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, and Asa Hutchinson are all failing to clear the six percent national threshold.