CHICAGO (AP) — The first Republican presidential debate of 2024 will be held Aug. 23, the Republican National Committee announced Friday, with a second debate the following night if necessary.
The RNC also detailed the criteria that will be used for candidates to qualify for the debate stage, including a pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee. That requirement could keep some candidates off the stage, including former President Donald Trump, who has not pledged to support the candidate if he doesn’t make it out of the primary. Trump has also been questioned as to why he would participate since he has a significant lead in the GOP primary polls.
The debate will be held in Milwaukee, Wis., which will also be the site of the party’s nominating convention next year. It’s a nod to the importance of the battleground state, which will likely be key to a presidential victory again in 2024.
“The RNC is committed to conducting a fair, neutral and transparent primary process and the established qualifying criteria will put our party and the eventual nominee in the best position to take back the White House in November 2024,” the president said of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel. .
The list of candidates vying to take on President Joe Biden next year has been growing. In addition to Trump, the field includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Other candidates expected to enter the contest soon include former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
The debate stage may provide the largest audience yet for many presidential hopefuls, but it can also trip up the candidates. There have already been questions about which candidates will participate and what rules the RNC would impose to participate.
Trump has so far said he would not pledge to support the nominee if someone else wins the nomination, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt, “It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”
Christie, who plans to launch his campaign in New Hampshire next week, has said he would never endorse Trump as the party’s nominee in 2024, as he did in 2016. “No way,” he told Axios in the March. Advisers did not immediately respond to questions about how Christie would handle the pledge, given his opposition to Trump.
Hutchinson, also a Trump critic, said Friday that he plans to be on the debate stage. But he criticized the RNC for requiring the “loyalty oath,” saying the pledge should only be that a participant will not run as a third-party candidate.
“The RNC should have minimum criteria for debates in the early stages of this campaign,” Hutchinson said. “More options are better.”
To participate in the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee, candidates must have received campaign contributions from 40,000 unique donors, a relatively high number intended to win the field. Hutchinson was critical, saying it “favors candidates who generate online donations through extreme rhetoric and fear tactics.”
Among other debate criteria, contestants must also receive at least 1% support in three national polls or 1% in two national polls and 1% in the first state polls in two separate states. These states are Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Ballot boxes must meet certain requirements to be recognized by the RNC.
Candidates must also sign a pledge not to participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned debates during the election cycle.
The RNC said criteria for future debates may include higher thresholds for polling and fundraising. No future dates have been set.
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Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin contributed.
