RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Announces Location of Second GOP 2024 Primary Debate

A crowd gathers as the Republican National Committee (RNC) reelects Ronna McDaniel for a fourth two-year term as chairwoman after a three-day meeting at a luxury resort in Dana Point, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2023. Mei Li/The Epoch Times

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel announced Thursday that the second GOP presidential debate will be in California.

The second debate will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, McDaniel said while speaking from the library. McDaniel said she firmly believes “our next president will be on that stage.”

“I am honored to be able to make one really important announcement here today,“ McDaniel said. ”The second presidential primary debate will take place here at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.”

“The next election is so important,” she added. “We’re not dealing with small minor differences between two parties. These aren’t simple policy discussions that we’re discussing. We’re electing and determining the future of our country. That’s what we’re electing. There’s two very different paths being laid out.”

McDaniel did not say who will broadcast the debate or if it would be.

The RNC previously announced that the first debate would be held in Milwaukee in August. Fox News will host the first debate, McDaniel announced last week.

The nominating convention will also be held in Milwaukee in 2024.

It will be the fifth time a presidential debate has been held at the Regan Library, according to President and CEO David Trulio.

“We at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute are grateful for Chairwoman McDaniel’s announcement,” Trulio told Fox News. “The debate will continue a proud tradition that lives up to President Reagan’s vision that the institution that bears his name be a ‘dynamic intellectual forum’ where leaders ‘debate the future.’”

Trump was one of 10 Republican candidates debating when the Regan Library last hosted a GOP primary debate in 2015.

According to recent polls, former President Donald Trump is still the most popular among the Republican candidates.

Other Republican candidates include former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and conservative radio host Larry Elder, who recently entered the race.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott are also thought to be considering running for the Republican nomination. They haven’t officially announced their candidacies yet.

President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce his campaign for reelection on Tuesday. In addition to Biden, two other Democrats have entered the race. Marianne Williamson, a self-help author, is running for the second time, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.