Eight Republican 2024 presidential candidates met the Republican National Committee's qualifications to be on stage for Wednesday's primary debate in Milwaukee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy met the criteria by the RNC to appear on the Fox News forum 9 p.m. Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Former President Donald Trump, who met the polling and fundraising criteria but refused to sign a pledge to support the eventual primary winner, announced that he is skipping the debate.
"The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had," Trump wrote on his social media app, Truth Social. "I will therefore not be doing the debates."
Trump is ahead in national polling by about 37 percentage points, leading DeSantis 52.5% to 15.2%, according to an average of national polling on the FiveThirtyEight website.
The polling shows Ramaswamy in third place with 9.3%, followed by Pence with 4.7%. According to the site, Haley, Christie, and Scott are bunched together with 3.4%-3.5% each, and Hutchinson and Burgum are each below 1% in the national polling average.
NBC News reported that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Texas Rep. Will Hurd did not make the RNC cut to appear at the debate.
According to the report, Hurd's campaign is taking issue with the use of "likely" GOP voters in the RNC polling requirements.
"If the GOP is looking to grow our electorate and beat Joe Biden, then we better have a clear understanding of what qualifies as a likely Republican voter," Hurd communications director Natalie Johnson told NBC. "Anyone, regardless of party, who is willing to check the box for a Republican should be considered a 'likely Republican voter.' Expanding our party should be applauded, not penalized."
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced the debate qualifications in June, including reaching 1% in three national polls or 1% in two national and one early state polls, surveying at least 800 "registered likely Republican voters," and having a minimum of 40,000 unique donors with at least 200 in 20 or more states.
Candidates must pledge support for the GOP nominee and agree not to participate in non-RNC-sanctioned debates during the election cycle.