How to watch the first Republican debate on Fox News — with or without Donald Trump

Update: On Aug. 20 Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social platform that he would skip the debate.

Update: As of Aug. 18, The New York Times is reporting that Donald Trump will skip the debate to participate in an online interview with Tucker Carlson.

Will he or won’t he?

That’s what we’re really talking about when we talk about the first Republican presidential debate — will Donald Trump show up? Will he counter-program the debate by chatting about how great he is with a toady like Tucker Carlson on Twitter? Oh, X, sorry.

Or will Trump burst open the doors of the debate hall in Milwaukee, storm down the aisle, climb up on the stage, wrest Ron DeSantis’ microphone from him and start lying about the 2020 election while Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum pretend to look shocked, yet are unable to hide the excitement in their eyes?

Man, I’d pay to see that. I’ll bet Fox News would, too.

Republican debate live updates: The latest news and Arizona-focused analysis

What time is the debate in Arizona?

Trump or no Trump, the debate among Republican presidential contenders is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23 across Fox News platforms. Baier and MacCallum will moderate.

The candidates who have qualified for the debate so far, in addition to Trump and DeSantis, are Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and good ol’ Mike Pence, who is slowly becoming brave enough to criticize his former boss, who from all accounts would have been OK with Jan. 6 rioters hanging him.

With a few exceptions, profiles in courage this ain’t.

Sigh. Yes, electioneering is beginning already, the civic version of pumpkin spice showing up in July. But did it ever really end? The constant lying about the 2020 election from Trump, Kari Lake and those of that ilk, as well as the fallout from it, make it seem difficult to move on, though somehow we have. Most of us, anyway.

Who won the 2020 election?

At the risk of remaining mired in that quagmire, it is incumbent upon Baier and MacCallum to ask each candidate up front who they think won the 2020 election.

A simple, one-word answer, please: Trump or Biden? No hemming and hawing about election integrity.

This would set a baseline for honesty and actual integrity.

If you say Trump won, you’ve automatically identified yourself as a candidate who is unwilling to face reality and will ignore the truth to promote your agenda, and will be treated as such the rest of the night.

Simple, no?

There is unlikely to happen, of course. Not on Fox News.

Consider this your obligatory reminder that earlier this year the network shelled out $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems, which was repeatedly accused by Fox News hosts and guests of election fraud. Texts and documents revealed in the lead-up to the case revealed Baier and MacCallum were not exactly thrilled with their network’s decision desk calling Arizona — correctly — for Biden.

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At least Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters aren't moderating the debate

Oh well, could be worse. It could be Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters moderating. Then Trump wouldn’t need to show up — he’d have two of his biggest cheerleaders there already.

In all seriousness, some question the value of debates at all. In theory they're important — they should be a chance for the candidates to tell the country where they stand on important issues.

Hahahaha.

Sorry, I laughed so hard I choked for a second there. The New York Times got ahold of a memo from a super PAC working with DeSantis’ campaign that recommends the Florida governor “attack Joe Biden and the media” no less than three to five times, defend Trump when Christie attacks him (he will) and go after Ramaswamy, though that last seems like overkill.

What this really is is a chance for Republican candidates to try to demonstrate to potential voters that they are not Trump, while not saying anything too critical of him for fear of alienating his rabid base.

And let’s face it, unless Trump drops out of the race — a slew of indictments isn’t going to stop him, so it’s hard to imagine what would — he’s going to be the Republican candidate. The rest are fighting to be considered for vice president. (Except Christie, who mocks him, and Pence. And probably DeSantis. Wait, what are we doing here?)

The NCAA basketball tournament used to have a third-place game played before the national championship. They discontinued it after the 1981 season because, honestly, who cares?

That’s what the Republican debate feels like, especially if Trump skips out.

How can I watch the Republican debate?

6 p.m. Arizona time Wednesday, Aug. 23 on Fox News platforms.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What channel is the GOP debate on tonight? And what time? How to watch