CNN is set to host two Republican presidential primary debates in Iowa and New Hampshire next month—the first two Republican contests in the 2024 election season.
The cable news network announced on Dec. 7 a debate on Jan. 10 in Iowa and Jan. 21 in New Hampshire ahead of the caucus and primary, respectively, in those states.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) debate pledge prohibits the candidates from participating in debates not sanctioned by the RNC.
However, the RNC “is expected to announce this week it will release candidates from its requirement that prevents them from participating in non-RNC-sanctioned debates,” according to CNN.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the RNC and CNN for comment.
To qualify for the first CNN debate, which will be at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, candidates must, among numerous criteria, be at 10 percent in three separate Hawkeye State or national polls of GOP voters.
To be in the second debate, which will be at St. Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, candidates must poll at 10 percent in three separate Granite State or national polls of GOP voters, in addition to meeting other requirements.
Given the requirements, only former South Carolina Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would qualify for these debates while the other candidates still in the race—entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson—would not.
Mr. DeSantis announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he will be at least in the debate in the Hawkeye State.
“Looking forward to debating in Iowa!” he posted.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Haley campaign to ask if she will be on the debate stages.
In addition to the polling criteria, other requirements include being a U.S. citizen, filing with the Federal Election Commission a statement of candidacy, and consent to the debate rules.
It is unlikely former President Donald Trump, who has skipped the debates, will participate in the CNN events given he has opted out of them all thus far.
President Trump is also openly disdainful of the network, which he has called “fake news,” though he participated in June in a testy town hall hosted by the network and moderated by anchor Kaitlan Collins.
The announcement of CNN hosting the next GOP debates has already elicited right-wing criticism.
Tim Graham—executive editor for NewsBusters, the blog at the Media Research Center, which monitors and documents left-wing media bias—slammed the development.
“The qualifying candidates can go on their own to be harassed by CNN journalists if they so choose,” he told The Epoch Times in a statement.
“But this amounts to the GOP anointing CNN as a responsible news organization, when in recent history they’ve been a hair-on-fire Republican-trashing network.”
Mr. Graham compared CNN hosting the upcoming debates to the Democratic National Committee “agreeing to a Fox News or Newsmax debate” and that “there are plenty of serious conservative media outlets who could host a debate in Iowa or New Hampshire.”
CNN’s announcement of the upcoming debates comes a day after a testy debate on Dec. 6, aired on NewsNation, between Ms. Haley, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Ramaswamy, and Mr. Christie.
How many people will view the debates is to be determined, but the first three debates resulted in low ratings.
In comparison, the annual Country Music Awards, which aired on ABC, got 1.71 million more viewers, or 6.63 million total viewers, with 800,000 of them in the 18–49 age category, according to Nielsen.
Moreover, according to Nielsen, more than 12.8 million people tuned in to the first primary debate—hosted by Fox News on Aug. 23—with more than 2.8 million of them between the ages of 25 and 54, while the second one, on Sept. 27 on Fox Business Network, garnered 9.5 million viewers, 2 million of whom were in the 25–54 age range.
The ratings for the NewsNation debate have yet to be released.
Nonetheless, the debates “will provide Republican voters an opportunity to hear the governing philosophies of the leading candidates seeking to challenge the likely Democratic presidential nominee, President Joe Biden, in November,” said CNN.
From The Epoch Times
