Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will participate in the Republican National Committee's first 2024 primary debate later this summer despite signs from former President Donald Trump that he may skip the event.
"I hope everybody who’s eligible comes. I think it’s an important part of the process and I look forward to being able to be on the stage," DeSantis told Fox News in an interview Thursday. DeSantis also said he would attend the debate "regardless" of whether Trump participates.
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The former president has taken issue with the RNC requiring all candidates to sign a loyalty pledge to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee.
"I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them. When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA-hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?" Trump wrote on Truth Social nearly three months ago.
Trump still has not said whether he will participate in the August 23 RNC debate in Milwaukee despite his front-runner status in the race. He currently leads all other 2024 rivals in national polling and his campaign announced this week he has raised more than $35 million during the second quarter while DeSantis's team touted raking in $20 million in just six weeks of his presidential campaign.
Another 2024 rival, former Texas congressman Will Hurd, has also said he will not sign a loyalty pledge either, citing his displeasure with Trump. Other candidates, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have admitted they are struggling to meet RNC debate requirements such as a minimum of 40,000 unique donors with 200 donors from at least 20 states. Other RNC debate stage requirements include candidates receiving at least 1% in three national polls or a combination of 1% in two national polls and 1% in one early state poll from two separate early nominating states.
Hutchinson said in an interview this week that he only had 5,000 out of the 40,000 unique donors that are needed to make the debate stage. He also critiqued the requirements for being "restrictive."
"This bothers me that the RNC has set this artificial line that you've got to cross in order to qualify for the debate. We ought to be more expansive than that rather than restrictive," Hutchinson said.
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Presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has previously slammed Trump's antics surrounding the debate. Ahead of Trump's CNN town hall in May, Christie mocked the former president with Facebook ads. "This is the one question Trump DOES NOT want you to ask him. 'Why are you afraid of the debate stage?'" read one of the ads.
DeSantis regularly follows Trump in national polling; a RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump at 53% and DeSantis at 20.9%.
"At the end of the day, nobody has stood up for hardworking Americans more than I have over these last five years and delivered the level of results that I have," DeSantis told Fox News about why he isn't "connecting" with voters. "I've also been attacked more than anybody ... Donald Trump has spent over 20 million attacking me. That's more than he spent supporting Republican candidates and last year's midterm elections."