‘Nikki is afraid…’: DeSantis reacts fiercely as next GOP debate cancelled after Haley pulls out

The next Republican presidential debate has been cancelled by ABC News and WMUR after former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said she wouldn’t participate in the event unless ex-US President Donald Trump would not appear on stage.

Trump has refused to take part in any of the Republican primary debates so far, making Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the only candidate committed to Thursday’s event in New Hampshire.

In a statement on Twitter (formerly X), Haley said: “We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it."

The debate, which was slated for Thursday, was one of two such events that were planned in advance of the New England state's contest on January 23.

"Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates," an ABC News spokesperson said.

Haley's statement comes a day after Trump dominated the Iowa caucuses. She secured third-place with 19% of the vote, behind DeSantis with 21% and the ex-US President with 51%.

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Ron DeSantis lambasts Haley, claims ‘she’s running to be Trump’s VP’

Taking to X, Ron DeSantis slammed Haley over her decision to skip the event , stating that she is afraid to debate him in the runup to the New Hampshire nominating contest because she doesn't want to take difficult questions. He went on to accuse her of “running to be Trump’s VP” and stated that he looked “forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”

The Sunshine State governor further alleged that his GOP rivals -- Trump and Haley -- were running a “basement campaign.”

“I’m the only candidate that actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate,” DeSantis told voters during a town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire, reported NY Post.

“What does that say? We have four candidates for president now — Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and me. I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign at this point,” he said.

DeSantis argued that people of New Hampshire “deserve” to have all the GOP presidential hopefuls answer questions in moderated debates and questioned Trump disappearance from the debates since announcing his presidential run.

The 45-year-old Florida governor further targetted Haley for spending “100% of her money attacking me and not one red cent attacking Trump” in Iowa.

“In New Hampshire, you can’t do that,” he added.

The New Hampshire GOP primary is all set to take place on January 23.

The average of Granite State polls conducted by RealClearPolitics prior to the Iowa Caucus shows DeSantis with just 6.5% of the votes, significantly less than Trump's 43.5% and Haley's 29.3%.