Former President Donald Trump has teased a return to the debate stage for the first time since 2020, not with his Republican primary challengers, but to take on woke Royal Meghan Markle.
During an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday, Mr Trump was posed with the question — or perhaps challenge — as to whether he would debate Prince Harry’s wife “for the ratings”. The former president replied: “I’d love to debate her. I would love it.”
“If you want to set it up, let’s set it up,” Trump said. “Let’s go do something.”
Trump, whose mother hailed from Scotland, has long been an admirer of the British Royal Family, particularly the late Queen Elizabeth II, whom he met with multiple times during his term as president. However, Trump has long been critical of two particular Royals, however: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“I disagree so much with what they’re doing,” Trump said, pointing to the “great disrespect” the woke couple showed toward the Queen. “I said that I don’t think they are very appropriate what they’re saying, what they’re doing, and I didn’t like the way she dealt with the Queen.”
In 2020, the Duke and Duchess stepped down from their roles as working Royals to pursue money-making endeavours and woke activism in California. To kick off their new lives in Hollywood, the pair sat down with Oprah Winfrey to explain how difficult it is being a part of the family and even going so far as to accuse the family of racism against Meghan, who is of a mixed-race background.
The newfound media personality careers for the couple do not appear to have gone as well as they had hoped. In June, streaming giant Spotify cut bait with Meghan and Harry, cancelling their $25 million podcast after just 12 episodes.
The feud between Trump and the couple has been longstanding, with Meghan branding Trump “divisive” and “misogynistic” during the 2016 presidential race. Trump would go on to describe the comments from the former Suits actress as “nasty”.
When pressed on Wednesday as to whether Meghan and Harry don’t “like” him very much, Trump said: “Well, I don’t know that they don’t like me.
“I think it’s not a good situation going on with the two of them, but I didn’t know that they don’t like me… Somebody mentioned it might be possible. They wouldn’t be the only ones.”
Although Trump may not be the Duke and Duchess’ favourite person, the former president does enjoy strong support from the Republican base, currently holding such a commanding lead over his primary challengers that he has so far refused to participate in the primary debates. Last month, while the other candidates gathered in Milwaukee for a Fox News debate, Mr Trump chose instead to conduct an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson.