Former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, will be hosting the first Republican presidential primary forum in Iowa on Friday which will include five candidates, according to Blaze Media.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will participate in the forum, being held at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 14.
The forum will not include current front-runner, former President Donald Trump. Citing his double-digit lead in the polls, Trump has said he might be skipping the debates.
“I’m leading by 40 points. A lot of people say, ‘Why would you do a debate when you have people at two and three and fifteen and fourteen [percent]?’” Trump said on the “Cats & Cosby Show” on WABC 770.
“People don’t debate when they have these massive leads. They say, ‘Why would we debate?’ I would have a hostile group of anchors — a hostile network — asking questions. Why would I do that?”
According to RealClearPolitics, Trump is averaging 53% support in GOP primary polls, and is ahead of Governor DeSantis by 32 percentage points. Back in April, Trump said that he is so far ahead of his competition that he doesn’t see the point of participating in the GOP debates.
Glenn Beck’s media outlet tweeted: “Blaze Media is teaming up with THE FAMILY LEADER to bring you the first presidential forum of the 2024 Republican Primary season, hosted by Tucker Carlson.”
The event will be livestreamed on BlazeTV and the BlazeTV YouTube channel.
The Republican National Committee’s first official debate will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23rd.
Trump will watch the debate and then have his own interview in addressing the 5 debaters, with Tucker or whomever else he decides to pick to do an interview.
The reason to debate, Donald, is to highlight your policies to people who may be only tangentially interested in the process. It gives a chance to make clear distinctions with the other candidates. It also gives an opportunity to draw in others who are not of your party and unsatisfied with the choices they may have. That’s why.