The Republican National Committee (RNC) has announced that seven candidates, excluding former US President Donald Trump, are set to clash in the second presidential debate on the night of Sept 27.

The debate, at 9 p.m. on Sept 27 is taking place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and will be hosted by multiple US media houses as said in a statement on Sept 25.

Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and five more candidates

The participants are Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former vice president Mike Pence, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum.

Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who appeared in the first Republican presidential primary debate on Aug 23, did not meet the RNC’s heightened polling and fundraising standards for the upcoming debate.

Trump will be a no-show

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, will be a no-show after he skipped the first debate as well.

On Sept 25, the former president called the Republican primary debates “stupid” and suggested that he could bypass them all.

“Basically, it’s a job interview. You look at the debates, it’s a job interview, and so far, I’m not too interested,” a media house quoted Trump as saying at a campaign field office in Summerville, South Carolina.

Trump ahead of fellow republicans

New polls released over the weekend from multiple news mediums found Trump with a clear nationwide lead in the Republican primary.

A polls showed that the former president with 59% support, ahead of DeSantis at 16%, Haley at 7%, Pence and Christie at 4% each, Scott at 3% and Ramaswamy at 2%.

Another poll put Trump’s support at 54% to DeSantis’ 15%, with Haley receiving 7%, Pence 6%, Scott 4%, and Christie and Ramaswamy at 3% each.

To qualify for the second debate, Republican candidates had to register at least 3% in two national polls or one national poll and two polls from separate early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada.

Candidates were also required to have a minimum of 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in 20 states or territories.

Debate participants will also need to sign a pledge committing to supporting the eventual Republican nominee.

(Source: IANS)

-Edited for style

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