The Republican Party published the requirements for the primary debates: candidates must endorse the eventual nominee

The first Republican primary debate will take place on Wednesday, August 23 in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the 2024 convention will also be held. With candidates still to enter the race, the Republican National Committee (RNC) published the requirements they must meet if they want to take the stage to debate their opponents. The most striking rule is they must commit to supporting the eventual nominee.

The Republican Party primaries began to heat up when Ron DeSantis joined the race, as he is seen as the strongest competitor to Donald Trump. They two have been going back and forth for months. Other candidates are looking to gain a foothold and perhaps pull off a surprise in Iowa, the first state where they will face off at the polls.

The candidates are looking forward to August 23, as they will have the first opportunity to speak to voters and make a name for themselves and hopefully stand out from their competitors. However, in order to participate, they must meet the requirements established by the RNC, which were published on Friday, June 2.

Requirements to join the RNC debate

For starters, they will have to commit to supporting the eventual Republican nominee, something Trump hasn't been a fan of. In addition, they must have donations from at least 40,000 domestic taxpayers. The candidate must consistently obtain more than 1% in three national polls or in two national polls and one state, while having "at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in more than 20 states and/or territories." Finally, they may not participate in any external debates.

The deadline to comply with the requirements will be August 21, just 48 hours before the debate. As to which surveys will be valid, those after June 1 will be counted.

So far, the range of Republican candidates includes Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder, Asa Hutchinson, Ryan Binkley and Perry Johnson. Of course, we are still waiting to learn the intentions of Mike Pence, Chris Sununu, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum.

In 2015, the RNC limited the call to the 10 top-performing candidates in a selection of five national polls selected by Fox News. When the requirements were revealed at the time (May 2015) the front-runners for the nomination were Marco Rubio, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush. Everything changed when Trump joined the race in June of that year.