The Republican National Committee announced on Aug. 9 that Fox Business will host the second official Republican presidential debate of 2024. This means the conservative Fox outlets will be hosts of the party’s first two debates.
It is unknown whether the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, will attend the event. President Trump has stated that he will not attend the first Republican debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will air on Fox News, a division of Fox News Media.
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement that the second debate will be held on Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, California, in partnership with Univision and Rumble.
“I am excited to announce that our second Republican primary debate will be in partnership with Fox Business, Rumble, Univision, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which will serve as an iconic venue for the debate.
Changes for Second Debate
Ms. McDaniel outlined new criteria for the second Republican primary debate during an Aug. 2 interview, signaling an increase in event requirements.To qualify for the second debate, candidates must meet a higher threshold. That will include needing at least three percent support in two national polls or three percent in one national poll as well as three percent in two polls from four of the early-voting states, namely Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Additionally, the candidates for the White House must have at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 of them originating from at least 20 states or territories, and all the requirements must be met at least two days before the debate.
Eight candidates have already qualified for the first debate: former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, despite significant name recognition, has met some of the polling requirements for the first debate but has yet to obtain the required number of individual donors.
Debate Support
Fox News anchors seem to be doing their best to try to convince the Republican frontrunner to participate in the first debate, despite President Trump’s suggestion that he may boycott the event due to his large polling lead and his less-than-friendly relationship with the network as of late.“Thinking of the big debate coming up, and I’m not saying this to sell the debate, it’s a great debate and would be great if the president and all the candidates could make it, but if you’re Donald Trump and this is all everyone is talking about, and you own all the oxygen in the room, wouldn’t you want to be in that room?” Fox News host Neil Cavuto said during his 4 p.m. show, “Your World,” on Aug 3.
Piers Morgan, who is in the rotation of “Fox News Tonight” hosts, challenged President Trump, saying, “Show us what you’re made of.”
While President Trump hasn’t indicated that he plans to give in to the requests to attend either debate, there has been additional support for the event from organizations partnering with the RNC for the event.
Rumble Chairman and CEO Mr. Chris Pavlovski said in the RNC press release that “Rumble is excited to be the exclusive live streaming partner of the RNC for the second Republican primary debate. We look forward to continuing to build an online home for debate on a stage that we promise will remain free from censorship and Big Tech bias.”