Mike Pence Qualifies for First GOP Debate by Meeting Donor Requirements

Former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the first Republican presidential debate, his campaign said Tuesday, helping the candidate avoid an embarrassing exclusion from the Aug. 23 event.

The Republican National Committee requires that each candidate have at least 40,000 donors, including at least 200 individual, unique donors from at least 40 states or territories, in order to qualify for the debate stage. Pence hit the 200-donor-in-40-states mark on Monday, the campaign said.

He had previously cleared the threshold for polls, which requires getting at least 1% of the support in a handful of polls.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all appear to have met the requirements to appear on the debate stage, but Pence’s campaign claimed that the Indiana conservative was the first to submit its donor count verification to the RNC.

“Mike Pence made quick and easy work of the donor threshold and he’s looking forward to a substantive debate about the issues important to the American people,” Pence campaign spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement. “Hopefully, former President Trump has the courage to show up.”

Trump, who has a massive lead in most polls, also meets the requirements to appear on the debate stage but is not expected to show up to the event, which will be hosted by Fox News.

Pence, who is averaging about 3% of voters in first-to-vote Iowa polling, compared with 44% for Trump, in fact struggled to gain traction for his campaign amid his mild criticism for his former boss. In late July, he pleaded with supporters to donate “even one dollar” to help him pass the threshold needed for the debate stage.

With Trump’s third indictment dropping last week, though, his once-loyal veep has stepped up his opposition, and even began selling T-shirts and hats that label the conservative pol as “Too honest,” which is what Trump reportedly called him when he refused to go along with the schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

As Pence’s comments about Trump’s actions have gotten harsher, Trump has slapped back. He called his former second-in-command “delusional” and “not a very good person,” after the “too honest” efforts were revealed.

“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

“I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest,’” Trump added. “He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.”

Pence’s campaign said that they brought in less than half of their donors through digital outreach, pointing to live events with the candidate and direct mail continue as the strongest sources of donations for the campaign.

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