Republican voters largely supported former President Donald Trump’s decision to sit out the first GOP debate last week, but most say he should show up for the next one, according to a new poll.

Sixty-one percent of Republicans who participated in an Economist-YouGov survey released Wednesday said they approved of Trump skipping the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee, while 22% said they did not. Trump’s boycott received the blessing of 83% of Republicans who are pulling for him to win the party's nomination.

But those sentiments changed considerably when Republicans were asked about the second debate, which will be held Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Fifty-seven percent of GOP voters said they think Trump should participate in the event, while just 17% said they did not. Twenty-six percent said they were not sure.

The numbers only differed slightly among the pro-Trump Republicans. Fifty-four percent said the former president should join the debate, while 19% said he should not. Twenty-seven percent were unsure.

Trump cited his commanding lead in the polls for skipping the first debate. He also suggested he might avoid future debates, although he has yet to clarify his intentions for Simi Valley.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Aug. 20. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

He instead did a pre-taped interviewed with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, just before the start of the Milwaukee debate.

On Wednesday, Trump ridiculed the debate over its TV ratings and “second-tier” candidates.

“They're just pretenders to the throne,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social. “These aren't presidential people. These aren't presidential talents.”

The moderators of the second debate were announced Wednesday. They will be Fox Business’ Stuart Varney, Fox News’ Dana Perino and Univision’s Ilia Calderón.

Eight candidates participated in the first debate, but they will face a higher bar to qualify for the second. They must hit at least 3% in two national polls or in one national poll and two polls in early-voting states. That is up from 1% in the Milwaukee debate. 

They also need at least 50,000 unique donors — up from 40,000 — including 200 or more in 20 different states or territories. 

According to Politico’s tracker, Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have qualified. 

Two other candidates who were on the debate stage last week — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — are polling well below 3%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average.