Plans for First GOP Debate Devolve Into Chaos as Candidates Struggle To Qualify, and Trump Considers Skipping

The former president is roiling the waters by playing Hamlet on whether he’ll attend at Milwaukee.

AP/Mark J. Terrill, file
Republican presidential candidates, from left, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Rand Paul take the stage during a 2016 CNN Republican presidential debate at Las Vegas. AP/Mark J. Terrill, file

With the first Republican debate looming on August 23 at Milwaukee, the party ought to be steaming toward next fall’s showdown with an unpopular incumbent, President Biden. Instead, the event is devolving into a chaotic exercise in herding cats.

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