Donald Trump, former US President and 2024 presidential candidate, criticized the Republican Party's primary debates during a speech in South Carolina, labeling them as pointless due to low viewership.

Trump pointed out that the last Republican debate, which marked the start of the 2024 primary season, had the lowest ratings in history.

"They’re wasting a lot of time with these ridiculous debates that nobody is watching," Trump said.

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Instead of participating in the debate, Trump chose to be interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on the latter's X talk show. He also announced his intention to skip the upcoming Republican Party's second primary debate on Wednesday, opting to address current and former United Auto Workers union members.

According to FiveThirtyEight's primary polling averages, Trump is currently in the lead among Republican presidential contenders with 55.1 percent support. Following the popular leader, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ranked second at 13.3 percent, controversial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at 5.9 percent, and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at 5.3 percent.

A recent Washington Post-ABC poll has also shown US President Joe Biden, currently the leading candidate for the Democratic party, trailing behind his predecessor by a significant 10-percentage-point margin.

While the poll drew strong criticism from some prominent political experts, citing huge gaps with the outcomes of other surveys, many officials acknowledged that the figures are tough, but called on Democrats not to "panic" over the numbers.

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Trump held substantial leads in both national and key state polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, despite facing more than 90 criminal charges across four separate indictments related to the 2020 election, classified information retention, and hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

At the same time, Biden is facing multiple scandals and suspicions that members of his family have accepted up to $30 million in unlawful payments, as well as an inditement against Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son.