How to watch the next GOP debate? You can't. But here's how to watch Nikki Haley's town hall

There’s no debate.

That’s it. That’s the whole sentence. Not, “There’s no debate over” this and such. Just no debate, period. And that’s become the Republican primary schedule in a nutshell. Donald Trump has declined to participate in any GOP debates this election season, citing his massive, they-don’t-care-how-many-times-I’ve-been-indicted lead in the polls.

Now Nikki Haley, leaning into her “this is now a two-person race” takeaway from the Iowa caucuses — in which she finished, checking notes here, third — has now declined to participate in a CNN debate scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 18 and an ABC debate on Sunday, Jan. 21. In a statement, she said she would only debate Trump or President Joe Biden going forward.

In a related matter, I will only show up to the newsroom in a chauffeured town car. Sometimes you have to take a stand.

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When is the next GOP debate? Never, maybe

So the debates are off, both of them. Which is probably for the best, since only one candidate accepted the invitations, although watching Ron DeSantis debate himself might be interesting. Maybe the old DeSantis who loved Fox News when Fox News loved him could go after the new DeSantis, who criticizes right-wing media outlets now that they have kicked him to the curb as their anointed one. (His criticisms, while ironic, are not misguided. Did you watch the Fox News town hall with Trump, with supposed “real news” moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum? Just a bunch of old pals yukking it up.)

CNN announced a town hall with Haley for Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. Arizona time from New Hampshire, home to the next Republican primary, on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

On the one hand, none of it really matters. On the other hand … eh, it just doesn’t matter.

Short of an asteroid hitting earth, it seems unlikely anything is going to prevent Republicans from making Trump their candidate. A good debate performance from Vivek Ramaswamy — basically defined as how many insults and conspiracy theories he could cram into a single sentence, evidently — was not going to sway anyone, anywhere, anytime. It’s ride or die with Trump.

Thus, the Republican debates were basically a psychological exercise in human behavior — how can the also-rans criticize Trump enough to stand out as an alternative, but not enough to anger him or his unshakeable base? Except, that is, for Chris Christie, a former Trump supporter turned antagonist, who went scorched-earth on Trump at every debate he qualified for, with the confidence of someone who has no shot. He recently dropped out of the race.

It was all reasonably entertaining TV, as far as it went.

And now, it seems, it’s going away. There is, in fact, a good chance that we won’t see another debate until the fall, when Trump and Biden, hurtling towards their respective nominations with the inevitability of a runaway spacecraft crashing into the sun, take the stage.

Or don’t, more likely.

Trump-Biden debates would be ugly, and necessary

There are several things, at least from a television standpoint, not to look forward to in a Trump-Biden rematch — Trump’s lie-filled rallies, Biden not doing enough press, etc. Another round of debates is among them.

Why would Biden agree to be subjected to a barrage of personal insults and lies? (This is the Katie Hobbs argument, the one she used when she wouldn’t debate Kari Lake in the 2022 race for Arizona governor.) Why would Trump bother, when nothing he says or does will influence any voters one way or another?

Because, in this case, it's important. The format and choice of moderators would be crucial to making them meaningful, but if journalists are being honest in their coverage — some are, some aren’t — they would frame this as a debate between preserving democracy, however imperfectly, and destroying it. It wouldn’t be pretty. When it comes to contemporary politics, nothing is.

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How to watch CNN's town hall with Nikki Haley

7 p.m. Arizona time on Thursday, Jan. 18.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk. Sign up for azcentral at the movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: CNN Republican debate? Not without Nikki Haley or Donald Trump