Dan Boylan, National Security reporter at The Washington Times, pointed out that the absence of former US President Donald Trump from the Republican Party debate is "unique" and "shocking".

Boylan told Al Mayadeen that by refusing to participate in the debates with Republican candidates, Trump was able to "throw rocks and criticize his party from the outside," adding that the former President is playing "the outsider" among his own party. The US reporter recalled that Trump used the same strategy in 2016.

According to Boylan, many Republicans call Trump a "cancer" due to his actions. He noted that some Republicans are also afraid to criticize the former US President, recalling that when Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney wanted to unearth some truths about the January 6 Capitol Storming, she was "voted out" by Trump backers.

"It's been shown that if you are a Republican who goes against Donald Trump you're going to get yourself punished by his people," Boylan indicated.

He believed that "the Republicans right now have got a small group of people that hold the party hostage and they're the ones pushing for this government shutdown."

The American reporter explained that behind the scenes, the Republicans made a deal to launch an investigation into US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who had drug problems and was involved in overseas business dealings in Ukraine and China, adding that those Republicans think that if they can investigate Hunter Biden, it may damage Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

National Security reporter in The Washington Times Dan Boylan discusses the situation in the #US where #Americans are concerned about the possible government shutdown, #HunterBiden's scandals, and the age of both #Trump and #Biden.@Boylan_Insider pic.twitter.com/CJWNFJ5Dab

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 28, 2023

Boylan's statement came after Trump skipped the second debate held by the Republican Party, saying that he had no need to waste time on his distant challengers.

Participating in the debate were the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, the former Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, the Governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, and former Vice President, Mike Pence, among others.

The CBS News network reported that most of the candidates focused their criticism on incumbent President Joe Biden and Washington officials, avoiding directly targeting each other.

Read more: Post-ABC poll showing clear Trump lead over Biden comes under fire