The announcement put in doubt plans for two debates planned in New Hampshire before the state’s primary next week.
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Nikki Haley at a watch party in Des Moines on Monday.
Nikki Haley cast uncertainty over two upcoming Republican debates in New Hampshire on Tuesday by setting a condition for her participation in future forums: Donald J. Trump or President Biden must be onstage.
ABC News, which is scheduled to show a debate on Thursday at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, said it and WMUR-TV had given Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley until 5 p.m. to “commit” to participate.
But Mr. Trump has not taken part in any debates so far, which could mean that only one qualified candidate is willing to be there: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Ms. Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Trump and a former South Carolina governor, finished third in the Iowa caucuses on Monday just behind Mr. DeSantis. After failing to overtake the Florida governor in Iowa, Ms. Haley faces heightened pressure in New Hampshire, where polls have shown her within striking distance of Mr. Trump, who dominated in Iowa. The state holds its primary on Jan. 23.
Ms. Haley has increasingly come under attack in recent debates as she has risen in the polls, including from Mr. DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, another rival who dropped out of the race after the caucuses and endorsed Mr. Trump.
She has accused Mr. Trump of ducking his opponents.
“He has nowhere left to hide,” Ms. Haley said in a statement on Tuesday. “The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
The Trump campaign on Tuesday called Ms. Haley “desperate” and said the only voters casting ballots for her were Democrats “trying to interfere in a Republican primary.”
Mr. DeSantis, who has ratcheted up his criticism of Ms. Haley at recent debates, including a one-on-one matchup on CNN last week in Iowa, assailed her on Tuesday on social media. He said she was afraid of scrutiny of her time as a Boeing board member after leaving the governor’s office.
“The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP,” Mr. DeSantis wrote. “I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments.”
The second debate is scheduled for Sunday night on CNN.
Neil Vigdor covers politics for The Times, focusing on voting rights issues and election disinformation. More about Neil Vigdor
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Source: nytimes.com
