Former Texas congressman and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Will Hurd tells Forbes he thinks he might be tuning in to Wednesday’s first Republican presidential debate, but he will not be joining fellow contenders onstage in Milwaukee. The Texas Republican did not meet the Republican National Committee’s polling qualifications to secure his spot alongside eight fellow contenders who surpassed the requirements.
“The lack of transparency and confusion around the RNC’s debate requirements is antithetical to the democratic process. The polling standards are arbitrary, unclear, and lack consistency,” Hurd said in a statement released on the eve of the debate. What is his message to the RNC?
“The RNC should be offended by Donald Trump’s behavior, because he’s basically smacking them in the face and making a mockery of the entire process,” Hurd tells Forbes. The former president is expected to surrender Thursday in the Georgia election interference case. Hurd characterizes this as a move “to suck all the oxygen, the air and the attention away from anybody that may have had a moment in the debate.”
Aside from the polling requirement, Hurd tells Forbes that he would not have signed the RNC’s pledge to support any Republican nominee “as is,” and on Tuesday referred to that as a “blood oath to Donald Trump.”
“I’m the only person in this race that has never bent a knee to Donald Trump,” the former congressman tells Forbes. “For me, I couldn’t lie in order to get onto the debate stage.”
Despite not making the initial debate, Hurd is optimistic about his campaign — and was unsparring in his criticism to the race’s frontrunner.
“Donald Trump is not invincible,” Hurd claims to Forbes while discussing the future of his party. “A lot’s going to happen between now and 24 weeks from now, when voting starts in Iowa.”
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