These Three Republican Candidates Failed to Make the Debate Stage

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Three Republican presidential candidates reportedly failed to meet the requirements for Wednesday’s 2024 Republican primary debate, despite publicly stating that they planned to attend.

According to the New York Times, which spoke to two unnamed officials on Monday evening, eight Republican candidates will take part in the debate: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansa Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner of the Republican primary, announced on Sunday that he would not be taking part in the debate despite meeting its polling and donor requirements.

Three candidates, meanwhile, reportedly failed to meet the requirements for the debate despite indicating in recent weeks that they would be on the stage.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed officials, reported that “three candidates all fell short” of the debate requirements: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Perry Johnson, and Larry Elder.

As noted by New York Times national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher, all three men had previously claimed to meet the debate requirements, or had otherwise indicated that they expected to take part.

Suarez declared last week that he had successfully met the requirements for the debate, before later confessing on CNN’s The Source that this was not yet the case.

“They have not yet given me sort of that final certification,” Suarez admitted, adding that he was “hopeful to have that sort of seal of approval certification very shortly.”

Suarez told CNN host Kaitlan Collins that his campaign had already “booked hotel reservations” and that they had “a bunch of guests coming up from Miami” to watch his performance.

Johnson made similar remarks, announcing in a statement on Friday, “There has been a flood of polling in the last 72 hours that meet the RNC’s requirements and qualify me for the debate stage… Therefore, I will be at the debate in Milwaukee and look forward to sharing my Two Cents Plan to Save America which will balance the budget and secure the border.”

Elder also made statements which suggested he would take part in the debate.

“I’m this close to doing it,” he told Fox News last week. “I expect to be there.”