After her third-place finish in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said that she will only debate the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump, and the eventual nominee’s likely Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” the former South Carolina governor said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
Hours after Haley's statement, ABC News announced that it is canceling a New Hampshire primary debate scheduled for Thursday.
ABC News and Manchester, New Hampshire, ABC affiliate WMUR-TV was set to hold a debate Thursday night, but a spokesperson for the network announced Tuesday evening that the network would not be moving forward with the debate.
"Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race," the spokesperson said in a statement shared by ABC News. "As a result, while our robust election coverage will continue, ABC News and WMUR-TV will not be moving forward with Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire."
A spokesperson for ABC News initially said that the debate’s organizers gave Trump and Haley a deadline of 5:00 p.m. ET Tuesday to commit to Thursday’s debate.
CNN has also called off its debate, which was scheduled for Sunday. Instead, it will host a town hall with Haley on Thursday night. The network held a town hall with DeSantis on Tuesday night.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in second in Iowa and has committed to both debates, charged that Haley is “afraid to debate.”
“The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP. I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments,” DeSantis wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”
DeSantis’ statement prompted a reply from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a staunch supporter of former President Trump, which read: “It’s over man.”
Trump has not attended any debates so far, citing his large polling lead over his GOP rivals, often counter-programming the debates with rallies or televised interviews. The former president notched a record-breaking win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday.
Haley on Monday night made the case that her third-place finish in Iowa “made this primary a two-person race.”
“Look at where we started: I mean, when we started, there were 14 people in the race. We had 2% in the polls,” she said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” on Monday. “We came out with a strong showing. That’s what we wanted in Iowa.”