Former Vice President Mike Pence gives remarks on the Calvin Coolidge Foundation’s conference on the Library of Congress on February 16, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
Former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the primary Republican presidential primary debate set for later this month, his White House campaign said Tuesday.
Nevertheless it’s unclear if Pence will get a probability to debate nose to nose against his former boss, Donald Trump, who has suggested he’ll skip the forum since he already holds a commanding lead within the polls. The primary debate is ready for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
Pence hit the Republican National Committee’s 40,000-donor threshold, securing contributions from a minimum of 200 unique donors in 40 states, in line with his campaign. That exceeds the RNC’s criteria for the talk — which requires candidates to net a minimum of 200 donors from 20 or more states — putting Pence on course to qualify for the second debate, his campaign said.
Pence’s campaign also said it’s the primary to submit its donor count verification to the RNC.
Pence joins a minimum of half a dozen other candidates who’ve already clinched spots on the talk stage, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Latest Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The Pence campaign noted that the previous vice chairman passed the RNC’s threshold after nine weeks on the campaign trail — a shorter timeframe than Haley, who hit the donor mark in 21 weeks, or Scott, who did it in 13 weeks.
“Mike Pence made quick and simple work of the donor threshold and he’s looking forward to a substantive debate concerning the issues necessary to the American people,” Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a press release.
“Hopefully, former President Trump has the courage to indicate up,” O’Malley said.
Pence is not the just one pushing Trump to take part in the talk. Christie, the previous president’s most aggressive Republican critic in the first field, has put himself forward as essentially the most capable candidate to tear Trump apart in a rhetorical knife fight.
“That is the only thing that is going to defeat Donald Trump,” Christie said in March.
But Trump has repeatedly signaled he’s leaning against it. “Why would you let any person that is at zero, or one or two or three [in the polls] be popping you with questions?” Trump said in a recent interview.
Political strategists have said it makes little sense for Trump to show himself to all manner of attacks from his challengers on his policy record, his myriad controversies and his quite a few pending criminal matters.
The absence of Trump, a media magnet and rankings booster, could also undermine other candidates’ efforts to make an impact on the Republican primary electorate.
For lower-polling candidates — a bucket that might include everyone aside from Trump and DeSantis — a breakout debate performance could possibly be critical. And a few are pulling out all of the stops to be certain that they get their probability on the stage.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum had promised $20 gift cards to as much as 50,000 individuals who donated a minimum of $1 to his White House bid. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s campaign raffled off Lionel Messi tickets. Each men said they’ve hit the donor qualification.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said last week that his campaign is “near halfway” toward the donor threshold.