By STEVE PEOPLES and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press
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DES MOINES, Iowa — He says he won’t sign the pledge required to participate, but former President Donald Trump’s Republican rivals are actively preparing as if he will be onstage for the GOP’s first 2024 presidential debate next week.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is hosting mock debate sessions with someone playing the part of the former president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been participating in weekly debate prep sessions for several weeks with an eye toward drawing clear contrasts with Trump. And Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, is planning to show she can stand up to bullies.

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In all, eight Republican candidates have met the Republican National Committee’s fundraising and polling thresholds required to qualify for the debate next Wednesday, Aug. 23, hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee. Trump is among them, although he has said publicly and privately that he’s leaning against participating given his big lead in national polls and concerns about the Fox moderators.

Still, the former reality television star, who is a master at shaping media coverage, has yet to rule it out completely.

He is consumed this week with yet another criminal indictment, this one in Georgia, where prosecutors on Monday used a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse Trump, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Even before the latest legal drama, he gave himself a way out of the debate last week when he told Fox News he would not sign a pledge, required of all participants, to support the GOP’s eventual nominee.

Republican officials in and around rival campaigns believe Trump will end up on the debate stage regardless of the drama in the days leading up to the high-stakes affair.

“You’ve got to prepare for two contingencies: one where Trump shows up and one where he doesn’t. It makes it more complicated,” said Republican strategist Lanhee Chen, who has been in touch with multiple campaigns about their debate preparations. “For many voters, this will be their first introduction to the candidates. … What they do on this one night may be more substantial than anything else they’ve done.”

Pence has participated in roughly a half-dozen formal debate prep sessions to date, including at least one planned for this week in which a campaign aide previously close to Trump is playing the part of the former president, according to a Pence adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy.

Campaigning in Iowa over the weekend, Pence indicated he was prepared to confront Trump — and the rest of the large GOP field — on several issues, including abortion. Trump and DeSantis in particular have refused to say whether they would support a federal abortion ban, which Pence has promised to sign if given the chance.

The adviser said Pence is also prepared to stand up to Trump for his role on Jan. 6, 2021 — Pence has accused Trump of endangering his family in the attack on the U.S. Capitol — although Pence’s team doesn’t expect the Fox moderators to press debate participants on the issue.

“I’ve debated Donald Trump a thousand times. Just never with the cameras on,” Pence said as he campaigned at the Iowa State Fair over the weekend.

And while Trump will be a major debate focus — whether he’s there or not — several campaigns believe DeSantis may have the most to lose.