So far, the Republican presidential field has been slow to jump on Donald Trump's latest bandwagon.
On Tuesday, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman rejected the invitation to participate in a Dec. 27 debate moderated by the media mogul and the conservative news organization Newsmax, while Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said she was still on the fence. Of the seven candidates left in the GOP field, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the only one so far to confirm his appearance at the debate in Des Moines, Iowa.
Huntsman said on NBC's Today that he will not participate in the debate, calling the event “a joke.”
“I believe that the presidency of the United States of America is beyond reality shows,” Huntsman said. “This is about politics as show business.”
On CBS’s The Early Show, Bachmann said she still has not decided whether to participate in the debate, although she thinks Trump is “a wonderful guy.”
“We’re still in the process of looking at it,” she said. “But I have great respect for Donald Trump.”
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