The Republican National Committee announced that five Republican candidates met the qualifications to be on the debate stage on Wednesday in Miami. They are:
- – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- – Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley
- – Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
- – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
- – South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
This third debate, to be moderated by Lester Holt and Kristen Welker of NBC, and Salem Radio Network’s Hugh Hewitt, starts at 4 pm Alaska Standard Time.
To meet the criteria for being included this time, candidates were required by the RNC to exceed a 70,000 unique donor threshold, with at least 200 from 20 different states or territories, and ratcheted up its polling criteria.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum participated in the first two debates, but did not qualify for the third.
Former Vice President Mike Pence recently dropped from contention, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was included in the first debate stage, but failed to meet the RNC’s tests for the second and third. The other candidates for the Republicans have quietly slipped away; Larry Elder endorsed Donald Trump.
Former President Trump is not planning to attend the debate and is, at this point, the dominant leader among Republican presidential hopefuls in all polling.
The Republican National Committee ignored that, however, and focused on the candidates who are attending:
“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people. We are especially honored to be the first political party to partner with a Jewish organization for a debate in our partnership with the Republican Jewish Coalition, and our candidates will reaffirm the Republican Party’s unwavering support of Israel and the Jewish community on the stage Wednesday night,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
The debate, with partnership from the Republican Jewish Coalition and Rumble will air at 4 p.m. in Alaska on NBC News and will be livestreamed on Rumble.
