California Republicans don’t care if Trump won’t debate 2024 rivals

ANAHEIM, California — Hours before former President Donald Trump was set to address California‘s state GOP convention, a crowd of supporters gathered outside the Anaheim Marriott hotel loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm for the former president.

They were met with anti-Trump counterprotesters, but their presence didn’t go unnoticed throughout the fall convention which featured several presidential candidates. Yet, none of the 2024 candidates were met with the same fervor as Trump.

INCOMING CALIFORNIA SEN. LAPHONZA BUTLER’S ADDRESS SHOWS HER LIVING IN MARYLAND

“It was an honor and a privilege and a dream to be able to sit in the same room with him and listen to him. Amazing,” said Shelley Freeman, a 57-year-old Clements, California, resident. “Everybody should drop out and support President Trump.”

Freeman had watched the former president’s 90-minute Friday afternoon address to the convention in which he received at least four standing ovations from the crowd. The California native was one of several attendees, decked out in pro-Trump attire, who spoke with the Washington Examiner about their support for Trump and were unbothered that he had snubbed the second Republican National Committee debate last week in Simi Valley, California.

“It did not change my opinion on him,” said Max Ukropina, a 35-year-old Orange County resident running for California’s 47th Congressional District. “Clearly, he’s coming here and able to fill rooms packed to the gills with, I don’t know, close to 1000 people and room left over, sold out weeks ago. It’s very clear he has the momentum. And so it was very clear why he didn’t have to be at the debate.”

Similarly, Kevin Crye, a 47-year-old Shasta County resident, pointed to Trump’s dominance over the primary as why he didn’t need to participate in GOP debates. “No, I mean, what’s there to debate? You can’t — you can’t argue with idiots,” Crye said. “Everybody knows how he feels. He is who he is. He has nothing to gain from it, quite honestly.”

Trump currently leads the pack in national polling, often by more than 40 percentage points, even as he has faced 91 indictments across four criminal cases. A RealClearPolitics poll average shows Trump at 56.7% of GOP support, far above Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at 13.6%. The rest of the field polls in the single digits.

DeSantis, the closest rival to Trump in the primary, even remarked on Trump’s crowd of supporters during the GOP convention. “I’m actually a little disappointed. I didn’t see any protesters out for me today. Where did the protesters go?” DeSantis joked on Saturday to the crowd. “We had them six months ago when I was here. I had them in other parts of California since I’ve been here, but they will come after you.”

The Florida governor and Trump have escalated their attacks on each other throughout the 2024 cycle, and at the convention, DeSantis indirectly called out Trump for costing Republicans two battleground states during the 2020 election.

“I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he turned Florida red,” DeSantis said. “All I will say is that Ronald Reagan made the point there’s no limit to what you can do when you don’t care who gets the credit. I just wished if he was the one that turned Florida red that he wouldn’t have turned Georgia and Arizona blue because that’s not been good for us at all.”

Trump spent a few moments during his own address, which heavily resembled his campaign rallies, to recount an anecdote about how his endorsement of DeSantis during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign propelled him to the governor’s mansion. “The guy had no chance of getting elected governor. He came to see me with tears in his eyes,” Trump said.

The two candidates’ speeches in California come after the state GOP changed its rules in July to a winner-take-all strategy during next year’s Super Tuesday primary. The new rules allow any candidate with over 50% to claim all 169 delegates, the most of any other state. If no candidate reaches 50%, then delegates are proportionally awarded based on a statewide vote. DeSantis allies have accused the rule change as “rigging” the primary for the former president.

Trump is currently well ahead of rivals in California polls, making it likely he could win the coveted 169 delegates. A Public Policy Institute of California poll shows Trump at 48% of support among likely GOP voters and DeSantis at 14%.

Along with DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also spoke at the convention, but none of the three candidates received as much fervor as Trump did from the crowd. All three spoke to smaller crowds compared to Trump’s address, which featured roughly 1,500 supporters. And while attendees said they were unconcerned that Trump won’t debate, they also said they weren’t concerned about his age as news of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) death broke during the convention.

“He is in his right and he’s in a sound mind. He does not have failing health. He goes out and golf — he exercises daily,” Ebony Taylor, a San Diego resident, told the Washington Examiner. “Now if somebody is competent, and they don’t have any failing health issues, then I don’t have a problem on his age.”

Mindy Pechenuk, a 71-year-old Oakland, California, resident running for state Assembly, doesn’t think that Feinstein and Trump’s age and health issues can be compared.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“There’s a complete difference between Dianne Feinstein and Donald Trump. Donald Trump, first of all, is in good health. Donald Trump is sharp in the mind,” Pechenuk said. “I’m going to be 72. I don’t feel like I’m ready for the cow pasture. Sometimes as you get older, you learn with wisdom.”

A Monmouth University poll released on Monday showed that 76% of voters said 80-year-old President Joe Biden is too old to serve another term while 48% said 77-year-old Trump was too old. The poll is in line with several other polls that show voters are weary of either man serving in office due to their age.

When asked if he was worried about Trump’s age, Benito Benny Bernal, a 59-year-old Los Angeles resident, said, “Not at all.”

Amy DeLaura contributed to this story.