Former President Donald Trump will skip the third Republican primary debate and will instead hold his own rally in south Florida on the same evening just miles away from the GOP venue.

The former president’s campaign said that he plans on holding a rally at a stadium in Hialeah the evening of Nov. 8, about a half an hour away from where the other Republican contenders who qualified for the debate stage will hold their televised event. Trump has repeatedly said he doesn’t see a need to participate in a debate because he is so far ahead of the pack in multiple polls.

More than 95 percent of Hialeah’s population is Hispanic or Latino, making it a predominantly Hispanic suburb. The majority are either native Spanish speakers or Cuban immigrants, NBC Miami reported.

The GOP’s desire to capture more of the Hispanic vote next year is highlighted by the choice of debate venue. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is Trump’s most serious challenger, became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate in 20 years to win Miami-Dade County during the 2022 midterm elections. Hialeah is located on the outskirts of the Miami-Dade Metro area; the city itself is run by Mayor Francis Suarez, a former GOP presidential contender.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also vying for the 2024 nomination, vowed on Thursday to ‘run into’ Trump somewhere on the campaign trail since the latter refuses to show up for the GOP primary debates, but he openly worried about what the Secret Service’s response would be.

Christie, a 2024 Republican presidential contender who has been polling poorly since he entered the race, issued his threat during an interview with Fox News.

“Get ready. That’s all I’m going to tell you,” Christie told Fox News in New Hampshire, where he filed to put his name on the GOP primary ballot. The state holds the second-in-the-nation primary after Iowa.

“Because if I give [Trump] and the Secret Service a tip as to where I’m going to be, it will be a lot harder for me to get to him. Remember, he’s the only guy walking around with Secret Service protection. So, that makes all of this a little more complicated. But I also was in law enforcement, so hang with me,” Christie, a former federal prosecutor, added.

Fox News added:

Christie, who like Trump is a master of in-your-face politics, repeatedly touted that he’s got the debate chops to target Trump. The former president remains the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, even while juggling an historic four criminal indictments, including two for his alleged attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden.

But with Trump skipping the first two GOP presidential debates and saying he won’t take the stage at next month’s third debate, Christie pledged early last month that he’d find another way to make sure that the former president is not the Republican Party’s 2024 nominee.

“We’ve got 100-plus days until the primary. Donald Trump and I will come face-to-face, whether it’s on a debate stage or whether it’s when he’s walking out of a building somewhere,” Christie pledged.