So Donald Trump is skipping Thursday night’s Republican debate because he cannot and will not allow himself to be asked tough questions by a woman. But … what exactly is his plan in place of debating? Something about veterans—he’s made that much clear. And it’s going to be at Drake University, just a few miles from the debate. Beyond that, it gets murky.
The time? According to TPM:
The event was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. local time, the same time Fox's primetime debate is slated to start, but the start time was moved back to 7 p.m. on Thursday morning.
But according to CBS News, what’s starting at 7 PM CT is the pre-program, while the main event is an hour later, as the official debate is starting. It’s Donald Trump’s campaign organizing on the fly. Should we be surprised at conflicting accounts?
Trump’s campaign has invited "all major networks" to carry the event live, but it looks like it may be restricted to streaming rather than actual network television coverage. And while the event is supposedly intended to raise money for veterans, veterans groups aren't jumping up and down in glee and anticipation.
At least one other Republican candidate is ready to jump on this chance for a little more attention, though: Mike Huckabee says he’ll be there just as soon as he finishes up debating at the kiddie table, and Trump claims two candidates (presumably but not definitely including Huckabee) had said they wanted to be there.
Trump has gotten plenty of attention for this stunt. Maybe he’s just figuring the rest will fall into place.