Eight candidates have successfully qualified for the first Republican 2024 presidential election debate, scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While former President Donald Trump has consistently maintained his position as the leading GOP candidate, there’s still a chance he’ll choose not to face-off with the candidates eager to steal his thunder.

Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich asserts that even if Trump is a no-show, plenty of other candidates are worth watching.

The most interesting question on Fox is that the person who is most qualified — that is, the most support in polls, the most fundraising — is President Donald J. Trump. And there’s a real question whether or not President Trump is going to want to show up because, you know, if he goes in there, he’s going to have everybody shooting at him.

Vice President Pence, who is still pretty angry about how he was treated on January 6 by President Trump, Governor Chris Christie, who seems to be waging a campaign specifically designed to go after President Trump, and Governor Ron DeSantis, who, in recent days has become more openly critical of President Trump, as his campaign has floundered, and it’s been clear that he has to draw a sharp contrast with President Trump …

So, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Trump even decides to go. He is, after all, currently about 30 to 40 points ahead in the polls. He has no natural reason to go, but obviously Fox is gonna do everything they can to get him there, and he does run the risk of people attacking him for either not having the courage or not being public-spirited, or not doing what you should do in order to have an informed electorate. So, we’ll see what Trump decides.