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Which four Republicans will be on stage for the fourth presidential debate?
FREDERIC J. BROWNROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Just four Republicans will be on stage Wednesday for the fourth Republican presidential debate at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the Republican National Committee announced Monday evening.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are the four who met the qualifications, the smallest field yet to take the stage during the GOP primary campaign.
The threshold set by the RNC was the highest set so far, demanding candidates reach at least 6% support in two national polls or 6% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The RNC approved the polls that would qualify candidates. And candidates also needed a minimum of 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 from 20 states or territories.
And participants also had to sign a pledge promising to support the party’s eventual nominee.
Here’s where the candidates stand:
Ron DeSantis’ campaign and the super PAC supporting him have made substantial investments in Iowa, but he has faced some setbacks. In the hours after DeSantis wrapped up his tour of all 99 counties in Iowa on Saturday, news broke of further shakeups at the super PAC supporting him, “Never Back Down.”
Kristin Davison, who was named to be the PAC’s CEO shortly after Chris Jankowski left the job in late November, was fired Saturday. Communications director Erin Perrine and operations director Matt Palmisano were also let go that evening, according to sources familiar with the moves. Politico, Semafor and the Associated Press were first to report on the three moves.
Despite his efforts, DeSantis continues to trail front runner and former President Donald Trump by double digits, and former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has been closing in on DeSantis with strong performances in previous debates and a shift toward foreign policy that plays to her strength in that area.
Ramaswamy, the youngest candidate in the field and a political neophyte, has had fiery debate-night clashes with Haley, and there could be more Wednesday night. During the last debate, Haley called the entrepreneur “scum” after he invoked Haley’s daughter during a critique of TikTok.
The 2024 race’s most vocal critic of Trump, Christie has cast himself as the only Republican willing to take him on directly. Without Trump at the debates, Christie has been left without his intended target but has brought him up nonetheless.
In September, Christie looked directly into the camera and declared that if Trump keeps skipping debates, he would deserve a new nickname: “Donald Duck.”
On CBS News’ “Face the Nation” with moderator Margaret Brennan Sunday, Christie dismissed polls that show Trump far ahead of the field, despite the lawsuits and indictments in which he’s embroiled.
“Let’s remember something, in this — in the Republican primary in ’07, do you know who was winning at this time in ’07? Mitt Romney,” he told Brennan. “You know who was winning at this time in ’11? Newt Gingrich. And winning this time and ’15 was Ben Carson. I don’t remember any of those presidencies, Margaret. So, you know, my view, we can’t worry about that kind of stuff.”
Still, Trump is skipping his fourth straight debate. Instead of going to Alabama he’s holding a closed-door campaign fundraiser in Florida.
He has said he’s forgoing the primary debates because he does not want to elevate his lower-polling opponents by being onstage with them. He and his campaign have also called on the RNC to cancel the remainder of the debates and instead focus on backing him against President Joe Biden.
Though Sen. Tim Scott participated in the third debate, he dropped his presidential bid soon afterward, saying that voters “have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.'”
On Monday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — who didn’t qualify for the third debate and wasn’t on track for the fourth — suspended his campaign, condemning “the RNC’s clubhouse debate requirements” that he argued “are nationalizing the primary process.”
He suggested recently that if he had known about the RNC’s debate thresholds before announcing his campaign, he might not have run for president.
“The amount of resources to run a national effort is very different than the resources to run in state,” Burgum said last week on a New Hampshire radio show. “And also, you’ve got a limited amount of time, as well,” noting he only entered the race in June.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.