Monday is the Republican National Committee’s deadline to qualify for the party’s first presidential debate, which is being held Wednesday in Milwaukee. And there have been a slew of last-minute developments.
Over the weekend, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced he had qualified for the debate, hitting the 40,000 unique donor threshold with just days to go before the deadline (he had already cleared the polling requirements).
That brings the number of candidates who appear to have qualified so far to 10, according to an NBC News Political Unit analysis: Hutchinson, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson, who appeared to qualify Friday after a flurry of new polls were released, all with him registering the 1% needed to make the stage.
But after weeks of casting doubt on whether he’d show up, Trump made it official over the weekend and confirmed on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he wouldn’t attend the debate.
“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump said in a Sunday post. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”
A source familiar with Trump’s thinking said the decision applies to only the first two debates, according to NBC News’ Katherine Doyle. And on Friday, NBC News’ Garrett Haake, Jake Traylor, Allan Smith and Zoë Richards reported Trump had decided to skip the debate and instead seek an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s campaign appears to be trying to set expectations ahead of Wednesday’s debate, with communications director Michael Tyler writing in a new memo, obtained by NBC News’ Megan Lebowitz, that the Republicans are all going to “out-MAGA each other.”
In other campaign news …
DeSantis drama: Trump and his allies were quick to criticize DeSantis over the weekend after the governor said in a Florida Standard interview that “if you’re not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement.”
On the airwaves: The Biden campaign launched a $25 million ad buy over the next four months in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida, per a campaign press release. The buy also marks the campaign’s first spending on ads focused on Black and Hispanic voters. The new buy includes a spot focused on jobs and the economy.
Also on the airwaves: The pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc is also launching a new ad focused on a general election matchup with Biden.
An expensive round of golf: The Washington Post details how DeSantis’ political team worked with lobbyists to raise large sums of money, offering access to DeSantis, including golf with the governor, in exchange for big checks.
Fastest-growing demographic could play a big role in 2024: NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reports on the rising political power of Asian American voters — ahead of not only the presidential election, but key races for Senate in places like Nevada, Virginia and Georgia.
Blocking and tackling: Texas Democrats are hoping Rep. Colin Allred’s race against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz will focus on his connections and efforts to boost turnout among people of color, but not be afraid of making a negative case against the incumbent, The Messenger reports.
Way down ballot: The race for Bucks County commissioner could provide some clues about where Pennsylvania’s political winds are blowing come 2024, per Politico.
