The first GOP presidential primary debate will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August to coincide with the Republican National Committee’s Summer Meeting, Chair Ronna McDaniel said in an email to members obtained by the Washington Examiner.
McDaniel said Thursday that the final criteria for the first debate had not yet been decided and did not directly address the prospect of a loyalty pledge.
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So far, only two prominent candidates have entered the race, former President Donald Trump and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The party is wrestling with the prospect of a divisive primary as Trump faces off against a slew of potential opponents, including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), whose support among Republican voters has grown to rival Trump’s.
The former president has swiped repeatedly at DeSantis, labeling the governor his “enemy” this week.
“I always say hit your enemy a little early,” Trump said in remarks from West Palm Beach, according to Reuters. “Some people say don’t. But I say do.”
The GOP committee overseeing the 2024 primary debates is expected to press candidates to commit to supporting the eventual nominee. Candidates may also be required to clear a polling threshold or demonstrate a number of grassroots donors, according to the Associated Press.
Trump bowed to pressure from the party to sign a similar pledge in 2015 not tied to the debates as he surged and threatened to run 3rd party
Trump bowed to pressure to sign a similar pledge in 2015 as he surged in the polls and threatened to run under a third party if he failed to win the nomination before later backing away from it. He refused in the first debate to commit to supporting the party’s eventual nominee, the only candidate on stage in Cleveland to do so.
Asked about a loyalty pledge, McDaniel recently told the Associated Press: “After the primary, it is imperative to the health and growth of our Republican Party, as well as the country, that we all come together and unite behind our nominee to defeat Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
The RNC’s Temporary Standing Committee on Presidential Debates is led by David Bossie, a Trump adviser and former campaign aide.
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McDaniel, who won an unprecedented 4th two-year term as RNC chair earlier this year, has pledged to stay neutral in the race and has argued that she is best able to stop a third party run by Trump.
“We have a lot of candidates running saying, ‘I’ll never support Trump,’ and if you are going to get on this debate stage, you are going to have to say, ‘I’m going to support the nominee,’” McDaniel said in a January interview with Steve Bannon’s War Room show. “We cannot have a rigorous debate process and come out with a nominee and have anyone say, ‘I’m walking away.’”