Why Are We Even Doing This?

Who are the Trump-less GOP debates even for, exactly?

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

This week, former President Donald Trump announced plans to skip the upcoming Republican National Committee debates, since (in his words) “the public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had.” He’s half right. For the Trump campaign, there’s no point in having Trump—who currently leads the rest of the GOP pack by anywhere from 30 to 50 points—stand onstage and make goofy faces while Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley argue over who loves him more (complementary) and who loves him more (derogatory).

Nevertheless, as is its wont, the RNC is committed to barreling down the throat of pointlessness and will hold the Trump-less debates regardless, starting Wednesday evening. Rest assured that whatever transpires on the stage in Milwaukee tomorrow will not matter. At best it will generate a funny sound byte or two, and force the lofty commentariat at the New York Times opinion section to wring a week’s worth of “what does it all mean????” headlines when, in fact, it obviously doesn’t mean anything at all. These debates will not matter. They are a pantomime, with little to offer beyond the (admittedly tantalizing) chance that Ron DeSantis might genuinely make boom-boom in his big boy pants right there at the lectern.