POLITICS
7 Candidates to Participate in Second GOP Presidential Debate on Wednesday
Courtesy of WPRI
The second Republican presidential debate will be held Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and seven candidates have qualified to appear, according to the Republican National Committee.
“Wednesday’s debate is another opportunity for the RNC to share our diverse candidate field with the American people. The Republican Party is united around one common goal — Beating Biden — and there is no better place to showcase our conservative vision for the future than the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
As with the first GOP debate, former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the nomination, will not be in attendance. Instead, he is scheduled to hold events in Michigan on Wednesday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina governor and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all qualified.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appeared at the first debate but did not qualify for the second. Instead, he said in a statement that he will also travel to Michigan Wednesday to hold a press conference highlighting Trump’s “false promises to blue collar and union workers in Michigan and across America.”
To qualify for the second debate, candidates needed at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 per state, and had to reach at least 3% in two national polls approved by the Republican National Committee, or in one national poll plus one early-state poll. Qualifying candidates were also required to sign a pledge promising to support the eventual GOP nominee.
The ground has shifted since the first debate, after which Haley saw a significant boost, DeSantis dropped in the polls, and Ramaswamy saw his name recognition soar.
The debate will air at 9 p.m. ET on Fox Business and Univision, and will be livestreamed on the streaming platform Rumble.
TMX contributed to this article.
