Poll: Trump skipping GOP debates doesn’t concern most Iowa Republicans

A majority of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers — 57% — say former President Donald Trump skipping GOP presidential debates doesn’t matter to them, according to new results from the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll.

By contrast, 42% of likely GOP caucusgoers believe Trump should participate in at least one debate before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

These numbers come as Trump is expected to skip the third GOP primary debate, which NBC News will host on Nov. 8, after not attending either of the first two Republican presidential debates, either.

There is a divide on the subject, however, among Trump supporters and Iowa Republicans backing a non-Trump candidates.

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Eight-in-10 likely caucusgoers supporting Trump say it doesn’t matter if Trump attends at least one debate.

Yet among caucusgoers backing a candidate other than Trump, 60% think the former president should take the debate stage, although 4-in-10 of these likely caucusgoers say it doesn’t matter to them.

The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted Oct. 22-26 of 404 likely Republican caucusgoers, and it has a margin of error of plus-minus 4.9 percentage points.