Eight Republican presidential candidates are preparing to descend on Milwaukee for the first GOP primary debate Wednesday night.
The event, hosted by Fox News, will be one of the clearest opportunities yet for candidates to separate themselves from the pack in a race that has largely been dominated by former President Trump.
Trump won’t attend Wednesday’s event. He’s instead sitting for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. And on Thursday, he said he will turn himself in to authorities in Georgia, where he faces charges in Fulton County’s case alleging 2020 election interference.
Follow the live updates ahead of the event here.
Fox’s MacCallum: Trump’s debate absence likely means more focus on ‘issues people care about’
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum says former President Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican primary debate this week could present an opportunity for candidates to focus more on issues that are top of mind for voters.
“I think it’s kind of a golden opportunity for them,” MacCallum told The Hill during an interview Tuesday.
“For all of them, I just think they’re going to get a little more room to breathe. I think there’s going to be a lot of focus on the issues that people care about, because that is the number one thing that we hear from everyone we speak with, is that they are just so hungry to move the conversation off of everything that’s been happening in the past and some of what’s been on [Trump’s] plate and hear about what matters to them.”
Read the full story here.
Hurd knocks RNC
GOP presidential candidate Will Hurd on Tuesday knocked the Republican National Committee (RNC) over a “lack of transparency and confusion” surrounding candidate requirements for the party’s first primary debate.
“The lack of transparency and confusion around the RNC’s debate requirements is antithetical to the democratic process. The polling standards are arbitrary, unclear, and lack consistency. This is an unacceptable process for a presidential election. The American people deserve better,” Hurd said in a statement shared to X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
— Julia Mueller
Elder, Johnson plan to sue RNC after failure to make first primary debate
Republican presidential candidates Perry Johnson and Larry Elder announced Tuesday they are suing the Republican National Committee (RNC) for not allowing them on the stage at the upcoming primary debate.
“I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is,” Elder posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage.”
Conservative radio host Elder and Michigan businessman Johnson both claimed to have met every requirement to get on the debate stage, yet the RNC declined their eligibility bids.
“It is clear from the beginning, the RNC knew who they wanted on stage and who they wanted to ban from the stage,” Johnson said in a statement. “Simply put, this is a flawed decision of a poorly run process of a corrupt organization.”
— Tara Suter
Read the full story here.
Baier: Trump wants to suck ‘oxygen’ from debate with Thursday surrender
Fox News anchor Bret Baier said former President Trump is attempting to stifle headlines about the first Republican primary debate this week by surrendering to authorities in Georgia the day after the event.
“I think there has to be some planning,” Baier who is moderating Wednesday night’s event for Fox, said during an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program. “I mean, I think it is about sucking the oxygen out of the room for anybody who had a big night on Wednesday making the rounds on Thursday.”
Baier called the former president’s plans “calculated.”
“It’s not a great counter-programming thing, but I do think it is calculated,” he said.
— Dominick Mastrangelo
Trump super PAC launches ‘Vice Presidential Debate’ website
A super PAC aligned with former President Trump’s 2024 bid launched a website ahead of Wednesday night’s debate framing the event as a contest to be Trump’s running mate.
Make America Great Again Inc. launched vpdebate2024.com on Tuesday, giving visitors a chance to vote for who they think will be the best vice president for Trump.
The site also features blurbs about each candidate, which includes both positive things each rival has said about Trump in the past, as well as ways they currently break from Trump’s agenda.
—Brett Samuels
Trump leading GOP field by 30 points in Utah: survey
Former President Trump has the backing of nearly half of Republican voters in Utah and is leading the field of his fellow GOP presidential contenders by 30 points, according to a new poll.
Tuesday’s Noble Predictive Insights (NPI) poll found 48 percent of Utah Republican voters support Trump — though he snagged just 14 percent in the state’s presidential caucuses when he ran for the White House in 2016.
Read the full story here.
Ramaswamy tangles with CNN anchor over 9/11
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy argued with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins over an interview published in The Atlantic where he appeared to float a conspiracy about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Collins pressed Ramaswamy on a quote he gave to The Atlantic for an article published Monday where he seemed to question whether federal agents were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead nearly 22 years ago. The White House hopeful attempted to walk back his comments, telling Collins that the article misquoted him.
“What I said is on Jan. 6, I do believe that there were many federal agents in the field and we deserve to know who they are,” Ramaswamy said on CNN’s “The Source.” “On 9/11, what I’ve said is that the government lied and this is incontrovertible evidence, Kaitlan, the government lied about Saudi Arabia’s involvement.”
“Again, I asked that reporter to send a recording because it was on the record. He refused to do it, but we had a free flowing conversation,” he told Collins when she pressed him further on the quotes.
— Lauren Sforza
Candidates with most to gain from Trump’s debate absence
Former President Trump’s expected absence at Wednesday’s Republican primary debate in Milwaukee presents an opportunity to the candidates on stage as they look to boost their standing in the polls.
Even with Trump not participating, the debate will likely draw the largest national audience contenders have seen so far this cycle. Additionally, the debate is the first time most of the contenders will publicly interact with each other on stage.
Five candidates stand to benefit the most from his absence.
Read more here.
— Julia Manchester
RNC announces 8 candidates have met criteria for first GOP primary debate
The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced that eight GOP presidential candidates have officially qualified for the first primary debate slated for Wednesday evening in Milwaukee.
To qualify for the debate, candidates needed to meet polling and donor requirements set by the RNC, as well as sign a loyalty pledge vowing that they will support the eventual Republican nominee in 2024.
Those who qualified: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Read more here.
— Lauren Sforza
GOP anxiety runs high over Trump
Former President Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican presidential primary debate has Republicans increasingly concerned his rivals will have little opportunity to catch him in the polls.
Many senior Republican officials and strategists in Washington think Trump would be a weak candidate in the general election and have an uphill path to beating President Biden in 2024.
But there’s also a growing sense among Republican lawmakers and other party leaders that Trump may have wrapped up the nomination months before the Iowa caucuses, despite facing 91 felony counts and four criminal trials.
Read the full story here.
— Alexander Bolton
How do I watch the debate?
The debate will start at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday. It is being held at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
The debate will be covered across all platforms operated by the Fox News network, including Fox Business Network, Fox News Digital, the Fox Nation streaming service and Fox News Audio.
Trump will turn himself in after debate
One day after the GOP debate, Trump is expected to surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Ga., after being charged with crimes related to his efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia.
In a post on Truth Social Monday evening, Trump confirmed that he would turn himself in Thursday.
“Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED by a Radical Left District Attorney, Fani Willis, who is overseeing one of the greatest Murder and Violent Crime DISASTERS in American History,” Trump wrote in the post on Truth Social.
— Sarah Fortinsky
Trump’s rebuke of Fox News
Former President Trump’s decision to sit out this week’s first Republican primary debate is his sharpest rebuke yet of Fox News, the network broadcasting the widely anticipated prime-time television event.
Trump, the front-runner for his party’s nomination, has agreed instead to participate in an online interview with Tucker Carlson. By sitting down with the firebrand conservative commentator whom Fox pulled off its air earlier this year, he doubly spurns the network.
— Dominick Mastrangelo