DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy to be joined by Christie on debate stage
Four candidates will take the stage for Wednesday’s GOP presidential primary debate in Alabama, with the unexpected addition of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The University of Alabama will be hosting a notable event with the presence of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy, and Christie. This announcement was made by the Republican National Committee on Monday evening.
DeSantis, Haley, and Ramaswamy all effortlessly met the criteria set by the national party committee to secure a place on stage. However, Christie’s inclusion happened at the eleventh hour, as he seemingly surpassed the polling threshold in the days leading up to the Monday deadline.
NewsNation, The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM, The Washington Free Beacon, and Rumble will be co-hosting the debate, scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST.
Former President Donald Trump has once again decided not to participate in any of the RNC-sanctioned debates, despite easily meeting the qualifications. He has even gone so far as to urge the party committee to cancel the upcoming showdowns.
Rather than arranging for alternative programming, as he has done for previous debates, Trump will be attending a fundraiser in Florida.
Wednesday’s debate is set to be the most intimate primary debate of the cycle thus far. In the previous showdown, five candidates took part, but Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has since withdrawn his campaign.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announced on Monday that he is dropping out of the race. In a statement, he cited his exclusion from the debate stage as one of the reasons for his decision.
“The main goal of the RNC is to secure victories in elections,” Burgum emphasized. “Their objective should not be to limit competition and stifle new ideas by prematurely ‘narrowing the field’ before the Iowa caucuses or the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.”
Doug Burgum took part in the initial and subsequent debates. However, he did not meet the requirements to participate in the third debate last month, and he would not have been eligible for the one this week either.
According to POLITICO report earlier today, it has been revealed that ABC News and CNN are currently considering the idea of hosting future debates, although the Republican National Committee (RNC) has not made any official announcements regarding this matter.
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