The Republican National Committee has released the date and location of the third presidential debate.
It remains unclear if the venue will entice former President Donald Trump – who currently resides in Florida and is the front-runner for the party’s nomination – to participate in the debate. Trump opted to skip the first debate on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
According to CNN, which first reported the third Republican debate’s location, NBC News and Salem Media are currently in talks with the RNC to host the event. A spokesperson for the RNC confirmed the event location to the Miami Herald.
“Unlike Wisconsin and California, Florida has consistently tilted red over recent years, though it was once widely considered a purple battleground state,” reports The New York Post.
The second debate will be hosted by Fox Business and Univision on Sept. 27. Candidates who meet the qualification thresholds will gather at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The event is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EST.
To qualify, each candidate must have donations from 50,000 individuals. This includes 200 donors from 20 or more states. Additionally, each candidate must have 3% support in two national polls or 3% in one national poll as well as 3% in two polls conducted in any of the early nominating states – Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina.
“Additionally, candidates are also required to sign a pledge in which they agree to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee; agree not to participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned debates for the rest of the 2024 election cycle; and agree to data-sharing with the national party committee,” reports Fox News.
Candidates must meet the qualifications at least 48 hours prior to the second debate.
As of Sept. 12, six Republican hopefuls in addition to Trump have met all of the qualification requirements – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and businessman Perry Johnson have met the fundraising requirements and signed the RNC’s loyalty pledge but have not secured the needed polling status. Radio host Larry Elder and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson have both signed the pledge but have reportedly not yet met the other requirements.
The RNC has not yet revealed the qualification thresholds for the third debate.
In total, 12.8 million people watched the first Republican debate in August – lower than the first Democratic debate in June of 2020 which had 18.1 million viewers. Other Democratic debates had viewership between 6.17 million and 10.1 million during the same election cycle.
