North Dakota governor Doug Burgum has arrived at the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee on crutches, after an injury that sent him to the emergency room the night before left many wondering whether he would still attend the debate.
Burgum suffered an injury while playing an informal basketball game with staffers on Tuesday night, multiple outlets reported. The governor’s office has yet to respond to National Review’s request for comment.
Burgum told reporters in the debate spin room on Wednesday afternoon that he’s “happy to be here.”
ND GOV. DOUG BURGUM has entered the SPIN ROOM on crutches, after a game of pickup basketball sent him to the ER. Told me he’s “happy to be here” pic.twitter.com/uE71X90AjT
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) August 23, 2023
Burgum, a former tech entrepreneur whose company was purchased by Microsoft in 2001 for a reported $1.1 billion, became governor of North Dakota in 2016. During his latest term in office, Burgum broke from state Republicans on several occasions, vetoing an attempt to bar transgender students from competing in school sports based on declarations of gender identity.
During an interview on Sunday with Meet the Press, Burgum repeatedly dodged questions from anchor Chuck Todd on whether Donald Trump sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. “I do trust the voters,” the governor responded. “They want presidential elections to be about the future, a vision for the future.”
Todd pressed Burgum on why he was so forthcoming speaking about allegations surrounding President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, but not so when it came to speaking about the former president.
“It’s been interesting to me in a couple of interviews, plus the one we’ve just had now, you’ve been quite comfortable bringing up Hunter Biden on Joe Biden. But it’s remarkable to me how uncomfortable you — and you’re not alone here — you are bringing up the legal problems and the charges against Donald Trump. And I get it — it’s fear of alienating a majority of where the party is.”
However, Burgum did not take the bait. “Voters get to decide who runs for office in America,” the governor replied. “If we’re going to live in a democracy at some point, we’ve got to trust the voters.”
“We have to offer that. If I’m just one more pundit, you know, criticizing everything that’s gone on in 2020, no one’s going to see that there’s leadership there,” he said.
The eight Republican presidential candidates participating in Wednesday’s debate are expected to visit the debate venue this afternoon for a brief walk-through prior to the debate later in the day.