On Wednesday night, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will go head-to-head in Iowa in a live primary debate hosted by CNN. As the two presidential hopefuls vie for second place in the Republican field and rival candidates prepare a slew of counterprogramming, here’s what to know for the CNN debate in Des Moines.
CNN’s primary debate—the first non-RNC-sanctioned event of the election cycle—will air live at 9 p.m. from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Exclusive coverage will be provided by CNN, and livestreams of the event will be available on CNN Max, CNN.com, and CNN mobile apps.
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The strict participation requirements for the debate (10 percent polling support for each candidate) eliminated all but three candidates: DeSantis, Haley, and former President Donald Trump.
While DeSantis (10.9 percent) and Haley (11 percent) readily agreed to the debate, Trump, the clear frontrunner with 63 percent, declined CNN’s invitation. Instead, the former president will hold a solo town hall event hosted by Fox News and moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Trump’s town hall with Fox will also air live at 9 p.m. Coverage will be provided on Fox News and its affiliated streaming platforms.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who did not make the cut to participate in CNN’s debate, denounced the event as “the mainstream media’s latest tactics to prop up their favorite puppet.”
Instead, Ramaswamy will join podcaster Tim Pool for a live town hall, airing live in Des Moines. Footage of that event will be available on Pool’s YouTube channel.
Ramaswamy also plans to interrupt the CNN debate with a 30-second ad in which he will bash CNN and urge viewers to “turn this s**t off.”
“The mainstream media is trying to rig the Iowa GOP caucus in favor of the corporate candidates who they can control. Don’t fall for their trick,” Ramaswamy says in a version of the ad released on X ahead of the debate. “They don’t want you to hear from me about the truth of what really happened on January 6, the truth about the COVID origin, the Hunter Biden laptop story, and everything else they have lied to you about.”
CNN = Crap News Network. Lied to you about:
– Trump Russia collusion hoax
– Covid origin
– Hunter Biden laptop ahead of 2020 election
– Whitmer kidnapping plot
– Covington Catholic student defamation
– Truth about Jan 6
– The list goes on.Now they’re interfering with the Iowa… pic.twitter.com/Kg19eKUVzs
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 10, 2024
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the other candidate who did not qualify for the debate, has not announced any plans for counterprogramming on Wednesday night.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer covering politics, culture, and business for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X (Twitter).
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