Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is the most recent contender to make the stage.
The stage is set. Eight GOP candidates will meet this week in Milwaukee to spar in the first 2024 presidential primary debate, the party announced this week.
The field of Republican contenders for 2024 just keeps getting bigger, but not every one of these White House hopefuls made the cut for this closely-watched event.
The Republican National Committee confirmed on Aug. 21 the lineup for the showdown. The participants will be North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
GOP debate qualifications
To limit the debate to candidates who are truly competitive, the Republican National Convention outlined clear criteria for who can participate. The requirements may seem like a relatively low bar, given that these folks are competing for the highest office in the land, but it’s been surprisingly difficult for some notable names to clear it.
To win a spot, candidates had to meet a few requirements. They needed to hit at least 1 percent in three national polls or 1 percent in two national polls and one state poll from two “carve out” states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina). They had to have a minimum of 40,000 donors, with at least 200 donors per state. And they had to sign a loyalty pledge from the party that they’ll support whoever eventually wins the GOP nomination, even if it’s not themselves.
Hutchinson was one of the latest GOP candidates to say he met the donor threshold and polling requirement to participate in the first GOP primary debate. But it has been an uphill battle. For weeks, Hutchinson has struggled to wrangle enough donors before catching a break following his vocal criticisms of Trump following his fellow rival’s fourth indictment. Similarly, Pence has had a decidedly difficult time making a splash with GOP voters, even though he’s made the stage.
Not everyone who qualified for the debate will take the stage though. Former President Trump said he’s not attending the first debate — or any of them for that matter. As the event takes shape, here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Republican face-off.
When is the first Republican presidential debate?
The leading conservative candidates will gather on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, the RNC announced in June.
Why is Trump bowing out of the debate?
The big question leading up to the debate was whether Trump, the party’s front-runner, would join in on the fun. On Sunday, the former president insisted that he’ll be skipping all of the debates. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
Apparently, Trump has been weighing other options, including an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. He made it clear that any debate would be on his terms, and has said that he would refuse to sign the required loyalty pledge (which ultimately disqualified him from Milwaukee).
Others have questioned whether Trump would even have been able to participate. Hutchinson said the former president’s role during the Jan. 6 insurrection likely violated the 14th Amendment and disqualifies Trump from ever taking office. “A number of legal scholars said that he is disqualified because of his actions on January 6,” Hutchinson told CNN’s State of the Union.
Who is moderating the first Republican presidential primary debate?
Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will co-moderate the event.
How can I watch the first GOP debate?
Fox News will air it exclusively on their own network and live stream it on FoxNews.com from 9 to 11 p.m. ET.
