A document appearing to ban former President Donald Trump’s staffers from the first GOP presidential primary debate circulated on social media Wednesday night, but did not stop the three men from attending the event at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and remains the front-runner in the 2024 race for the GOP nomination, opted to not attend the Republican debate in Wisconsin, instead participating in an interview with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Trump has pointed to his strong polling numbers to explain why he is not participating in the debate.
NBC News reporter Dasha Burns reported that a flyer seen at the debate spin room showed that three Trump staff members were allegedly banned from the debate.
“This was on the security table near the metal detectors at the entrance to the debate spin room. Jason Miller, Justin Caparole and Danny Tiso — all three Trump staffers — are specifically listed as being barred from the debate,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
From left, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum on Wednesday night take part in this election cycle’s first GOP presidential primary debate, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A document appeared to show three Trump staffers being banned from the event, but Fox News said the document was from candidate walk-throughs that occurred on Tuesday.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty
The flyer read that those three staffers were “not approved for entry//not valid credential.”
However, it appeared that at least one of those staffers was allowed at the debate. Miller told Newsweek that he was inside the debate hall when it started, despite what the document said.
“Fox News’ ‘Never Trump’ bias against President Trump apparently now extends to his supporters as well. It’s tacky, it’s petty, and it explains why their ratings are in the toilet. Watch President Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson on Twitter tonight at 8:55pm ET!” Miller wrote in a statement to Newsweek.
A Fox News spokesperson, however wrote in a statement that this flyer was not produced by the company and was printed as a guide for candidate walk-throughs that took place on Tuesday, the day before the debate.
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