Who are the Republican candidates participating in the first Republican Party debate?
Donald Trump will skip the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday but the show will go on with at least eight other contenders to lead the GOP ticket.
Donald Trump, while he could easily qualify to participate in the first GOP debate among the contenders to top the 2024 Republican ticket, has said he will skip the event. The frontrunner by a country mile recently pondered on NewsMax, “If you’re leading by a lot, what’s the purpose of doing it?”
To add insult to injury for his party and Fox News, which will broadcast the event live, the former president plans to give a counter-progamming interview to the network’s ousted presenter Tucker Carlson at the same time the debate is due to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
However, were he to attend, he would surly have to face attacks for the four criminal cases against him, in three of which he has already be arraigned and he must surrender himself to Fulton County authorities by 25 August for racketeering and conspiracy charges related to attempting to illegally overturn the election in Georgia. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Those that tune in to the first Republican debate on Wednesday 23 August though will have a chance to watch GOP White-House hopefuls duke it out. At least eight of the twelve announced candidates, not including Trump, have qualified to be on the stage already according to Fox News.
What Republican candidates are participating in the first GOP debate?
Eight candidates will be on the stage after meeting the requirements laid out by the Republican National Committee (RNC). They include in order of their current polling as listed by FiveThirtyEight:
- Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor.
- Vivek Ramaswamy, Biotech entrepreneur and bestselling author.
- Mike Pence, former Vice President
- Nikki Haley, former UN Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov.
- Tim Scott, Senator from South Carolina,
- Chris Christie, former New Jersey Governor.
- Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas Governor.
- Doug Burgum, North Dakota Governor.
The remaining four are racing against the clock to get a chance in the national spotlight to present themselves to the wider American public. They include candidate for governor in the 2021 California recall election and former talk radio host Larry Elder, one-time CIA spy and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Michigan businessman Perry Johnson and Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, who told Fox News that being on the debate stage “for someone like me, it’s critical.”
When and where is the first GOP debate
The first Republican presidential primary debate will take place at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday 23 August beginning at 9 pm ET. The face off between the GOP contenders for their party’s nomination is expected last roughly two hours.
Despite the absence of Trump, Chief Operating Officer for the Milwaukee Host Committee Alison Prange told the local CBS station: “What I’m hearing is that whoever it is, people are generally excited because it’s a way to see democracy in action. It’s a way for people across the country and around the world to see exactly what Wisconsin is and what we bring to the table.”