Fox News To Host First Republican Presidential Primary Debate
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Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced today that Fox News will host the first official Republican debate of the party’s 2024 presidential primary race in August in Milwaukee.
The date hasn’t been set yet, she said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends this morning.
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She said that participants would be asked to pledge going into the event that they will support the eventual Republican nominee, whomever that may be. Donald Trump is the current front-runner, according to polls. “It’s about beating Joe Biden,” she said.
“Let me ask you this, as R.N.C. chair… if I said I wouldn’t support the nominee of our party I’d be kicked out. So why would we host a debate stage without every candidate saying I’m going to support whoever the voters choose, and the voters want that.”
While the number of candidates isn’t yet known, McDaniel said she doesn’t expect to need more than one stage to accommodate them as was the case for the numerous field in 2016. “Right now I don’t see there being two stages but I could be wrong on that. The field’s forming later than usual,” she said.
The Republican convention will also be in Milwaukee.
Democrats yesterday announced that their national convention will be held in Chicago.
In addition to Trump, the Republican field so far includes Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governor, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and businessman Perry Johnson, who lost a run for governor of Michigan. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina has announced an exploratory committee. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, initially considered a front-runner, hasn’t declared.
McDaniel said that FNC partners for the Milwaukee debate include social media platform Rumble, which will be the exclusive live stream provider, and former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Young Americas Foundation.
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