Seven candidates qualified for the second Republican presidential debate, the Republican National Committee announced Monday evening, just one fewer than participated in the first debate last month.
The event, scheduled for Wednesday from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern Time, includes:
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and former ambassador to the United Nations
Former Vice President Mike Pence
The entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina
While former President Donald J. Trump, the runaway frontrunner in the polls, easily exceeded the donor and voting requirements for participation, he plans to skip the debate. He also skipped the first debate, which attracted almost 13 million viewers and was also the most watched cable broadcast of the year outside of sports.
For his rivals, time is running out to gain ground on the leader. Trump’s biggest rival, Mr. DeSantis, has fallen in recent polls, and the other candidates have failed to make substantive breakthroughs. They will have to use moments like debates with a national audience to make noise during the first contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who qualified for the first debate, did not meet the stricter requirements for the second. He needed 50,000 donors (up from 40,000 last month) and 3 percent (up from 1 percent) in at least two national polls accepted by the RNC, or in one national poll plus two polls from early voting states.
It is unclear whether he missed both requirements or just one. He did not meet the new polling threshold, according to a DailyExpertNews analysis, but his campaign did not respond to requests to confirm whether he had met the donor threshold.
No one who missed the first debate qualified for the second. Most of the lesser-known candidates — including former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, talk show host Larry Elder, businessman and preacher Ryan Binkley and businessman Perry Johnson — reported meeting the increased donor requirement, but 3 percent in multiple polls was a bridge too far.
Just like last month, when Mr. Trump taped an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson only to be released while his rivals were in the debate, Mr. Trump has his own counter-programming plan. He will be in Detroit to give a primetime speech to current and former union workers as members of the United Automobile Workers, nearly two weeks after their strike.
Mr Trump has also refused to sign a pledge to support the Republican candidate regardless of who he is, which is a requirement for participating in the debate.
