CNN Iowa GOP presidential debate in limbo

The final Republican presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses may not happen.

CNN announced last week it will host a Republican presidential debate in Iowa on Jan. 10 at Drake University in Des Moines, five days before the first-in-the-nation GOP caucuses.

The debate would likely be Iowa voters’ last time to see presidential candidates in a head-to-head matchup before they cast their vote for their party’s nominee for president in the Jan. 15 caucuses.

Thus far, only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has agreed to participate.

Former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has not committed to participating, and Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are not on pace to qualify.

Former President Donald Trump has skipped every GOP presidential debate so far and is not expected to attend future debates.

To qualify for the Iowa debate, a candidate must receive at least 10 percent in three separate national and/or Iowa polls, CNN announced. One of those polls must be an approved CNN poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers.

According to latest Iowa Poll released Monday from the Des Moines Register, NBC News and Mediacom, Ramaswamy was polling at a distant fourth place with 5 percent support among likely Republican caucusgoers. Christie, who has not campaigned in Iowa at all, was polling at 4 percent support.

Trump polled at 51 percent, DeSanits at 19 percent and Haley at 16 percent.

The CNN debate is the first one not sponsored by the Republican National Committee, which last week decided not to participate in further 2024 GOP primary debates, and allow candidates to attend non-sanctioned forums.

"Since the RNC pulled out of the debates, many new offers have come in,“ Haley’s campaign said in a statement. ”We look forward to debating in Iowa and continuing to show voters why Nikki is the best candidate to retire Joe Biden and save our country. That debate should include Donald Trump."

Regarding the CNN debate, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said: “We just need to figure out which debate makes most sense for us as we have a few options.”

DeSantis’ campaign has criticized Haley for being noncommittal on the prospect of a one-on-one debate with DeSantis, even as Haley has called on Trump to break his debate boycott.

Haley, in response to a question about Trump’s absence from the GOP presidential debates, told the Sioux City Journal it would be “highly” offensive to skip the Iowa debate: “I don’t think you get a pass when it comes to an Iowa debate.”

“You can’t go and hide when it comes to a debate in the state that’s voting,” she said.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential hopeful, answers questions about abortion, education, eminent domain, disagreeing with Donald Trump, and more during a Sioux City Journal editorial board during a meeting on Dec. 8, 2023. https://t.co/6FC8MQqzBy

— Sioux City Journal (@scj) December 12, 2023

Referencing the most recent RNC debate, DeSantis spokesperson Bryan Griffin said: “After that loss, it is no wonder why Haley has failed to confirm she will join Ron DeSantis on the debate stage in Iowa and New Hampshire next month."

Previous GOP presidential debates brought Haley a polling boost, making her a target of sustained attacks in the last debate as her primary rivals tried to halt her rise as a plausible alternative to Trump for the party’s nomination.

“It’s a mystery as to why Nikki Haley would not take the only opportunity available to share her vision with Iowans days before the caucus,” said former Republican Party of Iowa Co-Chair Cody Hoefert, who has endorsed DeSantis, said in a statement. “Regardless, our state deserves this unique opportunity to host a nationally televised debate and voters deserve it, too.”

DeSantis has pinned his hopes on winning the Iowa caucuses, making the CNN debate pivotal for his campaign. He was set to field questions from Iowa voters in a CNN town hall Tuesday night at Grand View University in Des Moines moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper.

CNN did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

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