4 Republicans qualify for fourth presidential debate

Washington, Dec 5

Four Republicans, including Indian-Americans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, have qualified for the fourth presidential debate scheduled to take place on Wednesday night in Alabama, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced.

The other two candidates are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The four presidential hopefuls will face off in Tuscaloosa in what will be the smallest debate stage lineup so far this year, CNN reported.

Former President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, will skip the event, as he has all previous debates and will instead attend a fundraiser in Florida.

Monday’s announcement comes with just six weeks left until the Iowa caucuses open the 2024 Republican nomination calendar.

To make it to the fourth debate, the candidates had to meet higher donor and polling criteria set by the RNC.

They had to have some 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 in 20 states or territories.

The candidates also had to register at least 6 per cent in two qualifying national polls or in one national poll and two polls from separate early-voting states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada.

Similar to conditions for past debates, the RNC also required candidates to sign a pledge committing to support the eventual Republican nominee.