Republicans in the GOP primary field said they desperately wanted a chance to sling arrows at former President Donald Trump.
But Trump is taking a victory lap Tuesday after his post-debate polling numbers have vindicated his decision to skip the debate, he wrote in a Truth Social post.
"My Poll numbers are UP since the very boring, record setting low (ratings!), Debate," Trump wrote. "Leading by BIG numbers. I made the right decision, and broke all records with the Tucker Carlson Interview!"
The buzz from last week also included Trump's big-dollar fundraising off the first-ever presidential mug shot, taken at the order of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who indicted Trump on racketeering for challenging the 2020 presidential election. It was the fourth time the Justice Department and local Democrat DAs have indicted the former president leading up to the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
"These Indictments and lawsuits are all part of my political opponents campaign plan," Trump wrote in an earlier Truth Social post. "It is Election Interference, and they are going to use the DOJ/FBI to help them, which is illegal. Crooked Joe pushed this litigation hard to get it done. This is a new low in Presidential Politics.
"To the Democrats, I say, 'be careful what you wish for.'"
Democrats, establishment Republicans, and anti-Trump media are combining to try to stop the former president from returning to the White House, according to Newsmax host Eric Bolling on Monday night.
"The very people who are prosecuting Donald Trump for his so-called 2020 election interference are they themselves trying to interfere in the 2024 election," Bolling warned in his "Eric Bolling The Balance" monologue. "Joe Biden and his cronies in bed with big corporate media — and, frankly, even Fox News — are trying to eliminate the current Republican front-runner for president Donald Trump.
"And that is the real crime. But you see, their plan is backfiring, and it's backfiring on all fronts. They want Americans to stop supporting him, but support for him keeps rising.
"They want to hinder Trump from running, but Trump shows more resolve, and their mug shot backfired on them beyond their even wildest nightmares."