Which candidates will take the stage at the third GOP presidential debate?
- Five candidates qualified: DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Ramaswamy, Christie
- Trump shows strength in Florida, as DeSantis looks to prove his viability
- The third GOP debate is scheduled for Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET in Miami
Testing on staging11
MIAMI (NewsNation) — The Republican primary field is narrowing down, and candidates will have to make an impression on the national stage.
So far, five candidates have qualified for the third GOP presidential debate, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET in Miami, compared to the seven who qualified for the last one.
According to their campaigns, Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will take the stage at the next debate. Trump will not attend.
“You look at some of these states we’ve blown elections year after year over the last three election cycles. Our brand of Republicans have become toxic. Very difficult to attract people to the party,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis faces a significant challenge in his state as Trump appears to hold a firm influence over Florida Republicans.
Over the weekend, Trump strongly criticized DeSantis at a candidate forum in Orlando.
Additionally, the former president’s campaign has unveiled several major endorsements, including support from six Florida politicians who had previously backed DeSantis. The most notable endorsement was from Sen. Rick Scott, which he announced late last week. It was somewhat unexpected, as he had previously indicated he would stay out of the race.
“Tears flowing from his eyes, he said, ‘I need your endorsement, sir. I need your endorsement. Please. I need your frickin’ endorsement, please.’ So I gave him the endorsement and he got the nomination. We did the rallies and he won,” Trump said during the candidate forum. “Four years later he said are you going to run against the president, he said, ‘I have no comment.’ No comment. I said that means he’s going to run, to me. And I said let’s hit him hard, right now!”
Notably, Trump maintains a significant lead in national polls and his strong influence on Florida Republicans is evident through recent endorsements.
Additionally, over the weekend, DeSantis received a major endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who said Sunday that she’d endorse the Florida governor over Trump.