Trump NOT debating should raise questions in everyone's minds. Regardless of the videos that he's made, the tweets and the rallies, that is not the same as actually going up against his opponents on a debate stage.
People don't want to see theatrics, they want to hear what each candidate is going to do on specific issues. DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Pence, and Christie all have some sort of record. Trump has his record as president and Ramsy, well, he has none.
IMHO Trump has been slinging mud at DeSantis even before DeSantis decided to run and is terrified of debating him. DeSantis is more calm, more capable and more accomplished. Unfortunately a lot of things Trump tried to implement disappeared as soon as Joe took office, so what he did was in essence ineffective.
Trump is taking some very radical positions. If he believes in these positions, then he should be front and center defending them and be willing to go toe to toe and defend them outside the bubble of his rallies and TruthSocial
Why does he believe we should lowering interest rates in an inflationary economy?
Who’s going to pay for his spending proposals?
Who and and how much should taxpayers bail out those harmed by his tariffs
Does he still believe we can print our way out of a default?
What mistakes did he make during COVID and what won’t he repeat should another pandemic hit?
His supporters don’t care. If Trump proposes them, by golly gee then it’s all good. But those of us outside the MAGA bubble are more skeptical. And they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with “but he has explained all of this” which, the reality is he has not
He’s not just afraid of Ron DeSantis, although it was obvious from early on the idea of Ron DeSantis entering the race made him very anxious. He’s afraid of all the candidates on that stage, because he does not want to be put in a position to defend his proposals and many aspects of his record while president