It's official: Eight candidates will be on stage at Wednesday's Republican presidential primary debate
the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign
To appear onstage, candidates needed to commit at least 48 hours before the Wednesday evening debate, according to RNC criteria, which also required participants to sign a pledge promising to support the party’s eventual nominee.The Florida governor has long been seen as former President Donald Trump’s top rival, finishing a distant second to him in polls in early-voting states and in national polls as well, and raising an impressive amount of money.
DeSantis has been participating in debate-related question and answer sessions at least once a week, having brought in experienced debate strategist Brett O’Donnell to assist. The only woman in the GOP race, Haley has said transgender students competing in sports is “the women’s issue of our time” and has drawn praise from a leading anti-abortion group, which called her “uniquely gifted at communicating from a pro-life woman’s perspective.”
As he pursues a whirlwind campaign schedule, Ramaswamy has done virtually no formal debate prep, according to a senior adviser granted anonymity to discuss campaign strategy. The adviser said he’ll spend the day before the debate playing tennis and spending time with family.The former New Jersey governor opened his campaign by portraying himself as the only candidate ready to take on Trump.
Within about a week of launching that effort, Burgum announced he had surpassed the donor threshold. Ad blitzes in the early-voting states helped him meet the polling requirements.Trump’s vice president had met the polling threshold but struggled to amass a sufficient number of donors, raising the possibility he might not qualify for the first debate.
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