We'll see if Trump has the guts to debate.
7 Republican presidential candidates meet polling criteria for first RNC debate Former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have each reached 1% or higher in at least two qualifying national polls and two qualifying state polls from separate states, which is a requirement set by the Republican National Committee.
Candidates must also meet fundraising criteria and sign a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee in order to qualify for the August 23 debate in Milwaukee. Several candidates and their aides say they have already met that donor threshold, including Trump, DeSantis, Scott, Haley, Christie and Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy announced Saturday that he had also met the RNC’s fundraising criteria of 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique contributors from 20 or more states and territories. He also said he intends to sign the candidate pledge.
“The RNC’s debate stage criteria are stringent but fair,” Ramaswamy said in a statement. “If an outsider can clear the bar, politically experienced candidates should be able to as well: if you can’t hit these metrics by late August, you have absolutely no chance of defeating Joe Biden in the general election.” ................
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/23/politics/republicans-debate-qualify-polling-fundraising/index.html
