Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will center Wednesday’s Republican debate stage among the six other candidates, debate host Fox News announced Tuesday.
To Ramaswamy’s right, the lineup will be DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
To Ramaswamy’s left will stand former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Notably absent from the lineup is former President Donald Trump, who confirmed Sunday he would skip the GOP debate due to a huge polling lead. Trump is reportedly planning to sit for a counter-programming interview with Tucker Carlson.
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Matthew Perdie / Breitbart News, Jack Knudsen / Breitbart NewsTrump leads his nearest competitor, DeSantis, by 43 points, according to a Thursday poll by Fairleigh Dickenson University. DeSantis captured only 15 percent support.
Fox News, a network that has a contentious relationship with Trump, will host the debate at 9:00 p.m. EDT in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The network reportedly will lock multiple Trump surrogates out of the “spin room.” The decision is allegedly in response to Trump’s decision to forgo the debate.
Post-debate credentials will be given only to “participating candidate/campaigns,” a memo obtained by Axios said.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Byron Donalds (R-FL), and former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake plan to attend the debate, NBC News reported. Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle will also be in attendance.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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