Trump to hold rally in Hialeah on same night as third GOP presidential debate in Miami
Former President Donald Trump may not have any plans to participate in the third Republican primary debate in Miami next month, but he won’t be far away.
On Friday, the former president’s campaign announced that he will hold a rally in Hialeah on Nov. 8, the same night that several of his Republican rivals will descend upon the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami for the debate.
The planned rally at Ted Hendricks Stadium at Henry Milander Park marks Trump’s latest — and most brazen — effort to draw attention away from the Republican National Committee-sanctioned debates.
He skipped the first two debates in favor of smaller engagements; in August, he sat for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and last month he delivered a prime-time speech in Detroit while other Republican candidates attended a debate in California.
Trump and his allies say there’s little if any reason for him to show up to the debates. He’s running more than 40 percentage points ahead of his nearest primary competitor on average, according to a national polling average compiled by the data analysis website FiveThirtyEight. His campaign has gone as far as to call on the RNC to cancel the forums altogether.
Candidates are facing steeper requirements to make the debate stage this time around, meaning the Miami debate could feature a pared-down field from previous debates. So far, only three candidates — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — have met the participation requirements, according to The New York Times.
A spokesperson for the RNC did not respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment on Trump’s rally plans.
Trump’s choice of venue is significant in and of itself. Hialeah, a heavily Cuban community just northwest of Miami, is something of a success story for Republicans. In 2016, then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton eked out a narrow victory over Trump there. Last year, DeSantis captured more than 78% of the vote in Hialeah during his reelection bid.
“It is the greatest concentration of Republicans in Miami-Dade County, and so it becomes extremely important, especially when it comes to the Hispanic vote,” said Miami-Dade GOP Chair and state Rep. Alex Rizo, who represents much of Hialeah in the state House.
Rizo, who is backing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid, described Trump’s scheduled rally as little more than “politicking,” but stressed that the dueling events were a sign of how significant Miami-Dade County has become for Republicans.
“If it wasn’t important, he wouldn’t come down and hold a rally the same night,” said Rizo, whose state House district includes much of Hialeah.
Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler, who’s staying neutral in the 2024 primary, said that he’s already made it clear to party members that they are free to attend any event they want, arguing that choosing between the Trump rally and the debate shouldn’t be conflated with an endorsement in the race.
Ziegler said that he’s not yet sure which event he’ll attend on Nov. 8, but noted that he already has tickets to the debate and that he’ll join Trump and other Florida Republicans for a gathering at the former president’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach the day after. Several Republican White House hopefuls, including Trump and DeSantis, are also slated to speak at the Florida GOP’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee on Nov. 4, a few days before the debate.
As for Trump’s decision to hold his rally on the same night as the debate, Ziegler said that it only serves to draw even more attention to Florida.
“I think it’s good for the party. It helps rally people; gets them informed and energized,” he said. “I don’t care who the candidate is — Donald Trump or Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis or whoever. If they’re having events in Florida, Republicans are getting off the couch and are more likely to vote.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 2:24 PM.