Four candidates qualified for the fourth Republican presidential preliminary debate taking place this Wednesday (06) night in Alabama, USA. The information was confirmed by the Republican National Committee and the debate broadcaster NewsNation.
Florida Governor Ron Desantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will face off in Tuscaloosa on what will be the smallest debate stage so far this year.
Former President Donald Trump, the favorite for the Republican nomination, will not participate in the event, as has been the case throughout this year. On the same night, he will be at a fundraising event for his own campaign, in Florida.
To participate in the new debate, candidates had to meet the highest donor and voting criteria established by the Republican National Committee. They must have at least 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 in 20 states or territories. They also had to score at least 6% voting intentions in two qualified national polls or in one national poll and two polls from separate early voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada. Similar to conditions for previous debates, the committee also required candidates to sign a pledge committing to support the eventual Republican nominee.
Earlier, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum criticized the stricter criteria for qualifying for the debate and, at the same time, confirmed that he would leave the race for a Republican nomination.
“The debate criteria imposed by the Republican committee club are nationalizing the primary process and taking democratic power away from the engaged and caring citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire,” said Burgum, who qualified for the first two debates but not the third in Miami.
“These arbitrary criteria guarantee advantages for candidates from the main media markets. None of the debate criteria concerns qualifications related to the effective performance of the role of president. This effort to nationalize the primary system is not healthy for the future of the party, especially for a party that claims to value leadership from outside of Washington,” he added.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson remains in the GOP race, although he has not qualified for any primary debates since his appearance in the first contest in Milwaukee in August.
Meanwhile, ahead of the debate, officials from President Joe Biden’s campaign and several prominent Democrats, including Sen. Doug Jones, plan to hold a news conference Wednesday in Tuscaloosa to highlight “how Donald Trump’s agenda is shaping up.” on display in Alabama and the risks of this for the 2024 election,” according to a press release from the Biden campaign.
Source: CNN Brasil
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