Trump jokes about fleeing to Russia as co-defendants surrender to Georgia jail: Live

Ron DeSantis supporters tell Eric Garcia there is still time for the governor to break through, even as he becomes a target during Wednesday’s debate.

Having been silent all day, former president Donald Trump fired up his Truth Social machine this afternoon to issue his latest missal:

I WILL BE VERY BUSY TOMORROW NIGHT – ENJOY!!!

He then took aim at New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who has said the Republican Party will lose the presidential election with Trump as the nominee.

I was beating “Governor” Chris Sununu in his home State, New Hampshire, by so much, almost 50 Points, that he didn’t have the courage to run. He’s a selfish guy who should have run for the Senate, but now he’s stuck in never, never land, lonely and virtually unelectable!

BEST POLL NUMBERS EVER, STAY TUNED!!!

Building on earlier reporting that only participating candidates and campaigns will be welcome in the Fox News spin room after the GOP debate, The New York Times has obtained a memo first report by Axios that states that representatives of nonparticipating candidates will only be allowed in as guests of media organisations.

“In addition to the (5) Spin Room credentials referenced in a previous email, we’ll also issue (1) Media Row credential to any participating candidate/campaigns,” the memo says. “Any non-participating candidate/campaign is welcome in the Spin Room or Media Row as a guest of one of the media organizations with positions in those locations, using one of their credentials.”

Here’s our earlier reporting:

Former Vice President Mike Pence has become much more emboldened in his criticism of his former boss, Donald Trump, in recent months, but has refused to stoop to Mr Trump’s online admonishments and name-calling tactics.

Mr Pence is trying to pave a pathway back to the White House – without his name on a ballot next to Mr Trump. But it’s no secret that the former vice president isn’t polling particularly well, with just over five per cent in the polls, putting him in fourth place in a crowded GOP field.

The man who was once described as “cartoonishly loyal as Trump’s vice president” (and who once praised Trump every 12 seconds for three minutes straight during a 2017 Cabinet meeting) is now taking harsher stances and carefully distancing himself, at times, from the former president.

Kelly Rissman reports on what Mr Pence has said about his former boss.

The comments came after Mr Trump made it clear in a post on Truth Social that he plans to sit out the first debate in the GOP presidential primary race, citing his position as the front runner and arguing that participating would only provide his opponents the chance to sell themselves by attacking him.

Graig Graziosi has the story.

Attorneys for Mark Meadows, the ex-North Carolina congressman who served as Donald Trump’s final White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have filed an emergency motion seeking a federal court order barring Fulton County, Georgia authorities from arresting him while a request to move the racketeering and election interference case against him from state court is pending.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest.