The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced this week that Fox News would be the media partner for the first scheduled Republican presidential primary debate happening in August.
The debate will take place in the city of Milwaukee which is also the site of the Republican National Convention in July 2024.
In addition to announcing Fox News as the first debate partner, the RNC also announced the first debate would stream exclusively on the Rumble platform.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel made the announcement during an appearance on Fox & Friends:
The first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate is set for this August in Milwaukee, the Republican National Committee announced Wednesday.
“I am excited to announce that our first debate in Milwaukee will be in partnership with Fox News, Young America’s Foundation and Rumble,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
McDaniel told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday she wants candidates to sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual presidential nominee, but did not say it was a requirement to join the debate, which will be exclusively televised on Fox News and livestreamed on Rumble.
“It’s about beating Joe Biden. It’s about beating what’s happening in this country right now,” she said. “And we can only do that united, so we want every candidate to pledge that heading into this process.”
As for whether the debate stage and field could be split into two separate broadcasts or potentially separate nights, McDaniel doesn’t believe that will be necessary:
“We don’t know how many candidates there’s going to be so that will dictate whether there’s one or two stages,” McDaniel also told Fox hosts. “Right now I don’t see there being two stages, but I could be wrong on that. The field’s forming later than usual.”
Unless a dam breaks and a dozen more Republicans join the 2024 campaign, it doesn’t seem like there will be more than potentially six or seven “serious” candidates on the GOP side in 2024, and even that might be a generous count.
The choice of Fox News to host the first debate is not unsurprising but also will not come without some controversy. The network was afforded the same privilege back in 2015 when the infamous battle between Donald Trump and then-fox-host Megyn Kelly went down. In fact, during that debate, it seemed like the moderators were somewhat more hostile to Trump when compared to liberal or left-leaning media outlets.
For what it’s worth, Trump has already accused Fox News of being too friendly with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis which means the task of moderating the first debate will already come with increased scrutiny and pitfalls for the right-leaning network.
As for a live stream, the RNC also announced that Rumble would serve as the exclusive streaming partner for the debate and possibly for other debates during the GOP primary. This is a step in the right direction in terms of making the debate broadcasts more accessible without the need for a paid subscription service.
Follow the 2024 Republican Debate schedule for further details.
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