Republican U.S. presidential candidate and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum speaks during Fair-Side Chat with Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds (not pictured), on the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, August 11, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was injured playing basketball and will not give you the option to attend the primary Republican presidential debate Wednesday night.
A source from Burgum’s campaign confirmed to NBC News that Burgum, 67, suffered a leg injury during a game of pick-up basketball along with his staff on Tuesday.
He was transported to a Milwaukee emergency room and discharged from the hospital the identical day, the source told NBC, confirming earlier reporting from CNN.
It’s “unclear if he’ll give you the option to face” on the two-hour debate, which is ready to air on Fox News starting at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, the source said.
Burgum is considered one of eight candidates to fulfill the Republican National Committee’s qualifications for the primary debate. The others are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations Amb. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Latest Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
“Wishing Doug Burgum well. Looking forward to seeing him on stage tonight,” Ramaswamy tweeted Wednesday morning.
For the participants, the talk offers a rare likelihood to shake up a primary race that has thus far been defined by former President Donald Trump’s dominance over the sector.
But with Trump opting to skip the talk, his rivals won’t give you the option to take a direct shot at their biggest obstacle to the GOP nomination, potentially limiting the impact of the event. The absence of the attention-grabbing former president could also end in lower viewership.
Trump, who has accused Fox News of covering him unfairly, is actively working to undermine the talk by taping an interview with estranged Fox host Tucker Carlson that is ready to air at the identical time. Much of the remaining oxygen within the GOP primary race is being sucked up by Trump’s mounting legal troubles, including his expected give up Thursday night at a jail in Georgia.
Burgum, a wealthy businessman who was elected governor in 2016, is widely considered a long-shot presidential candidate. He usually scores within the low single digits in national polls of the GOP primary field.
To succeed in the 40,000-donor threshold required to qualify for the talk, he gave out $20 gift cards to as much as 50,000 individuals who donated at the very least $1 to his White House bid.
It was not immediately clear if the RNC would consider replacing Burgum with one other Republican candidate if the governor is unable to look. Multiple candidates — including former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, conservative radio host Larry Elder and businessman Perry Johnson — were denied a spot on stage for failing to fulfill the talk qualifications.
