The third televised meeting of Republican candidates is reportedly slated for early November in Miami, Florida. Initial reports have not identified a specific date or venue for the debate, but it does squash rumors that the upcoming debate would take place in Alabama during the same time frame.
The first GOP-sponsored debate was held on August 27, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Broadcast on FOX News, the televised event featured several prominent former and current lawmakers, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Governor Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Governor Nikki Haley among others. The second debate is currently scheduled for September 27, 2023 in Simi Valley, California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Similar to the first debate, it will be hosted by Fox Business.
It is unclear what thresholds candidates will need to meet before stepping foot on the debate stage. Furthermore, it is unclear if the party’s frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, will appear on the debate stage in California or Florida. In the recent past, t former reality show host has indicated that he will forego the opportunity to debate before he potentially secures the party’s nomination.
“The public knows who I am [and] what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I will therefore not be doing the debates.”
Trump has argued that he has nothing to gain by verbally sparring with candidates who trail far behind him in the polls.
“Why would I allow people at 1 or 2 percent and 0 percent to be hitting me with questions all night?” Trump asked in June.
With that said, it is unclear if he will stick with his pledge to forego the debate stage as the campaign cycle hurdles forward.
