(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump announced he will not be participating in the upcoming GOP debate. Despite his upcoming absence, new developments from each of the candidates’ respective campaigns are showing just how strong of a hold the former president has on the party’s base.
Ten candidates say they have met the Republican National Committee criteria to participate in Wednesday’s first GOP primary debate.
Despite mounting legal battles, Trump has solidified himself as the top candidate to beat and says he will not be there.
The RNC has not released an official lineup yet, disputing businessman Perry Johnson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s claims they have qualified.
With one day to spare, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he surpassed the requirement for 40,000 unique donors. He will join former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on the debate stage in Milwaukee, along with perhaps the most highly anticipated candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
A memo from the pro-DeSantis “Never Back Down” super PAC advised the Florida governor to “hammer” Ramaswamy and defend the former president as part of his debate strategy.
However, both of their campaigns are struggling with negative press in the days leading up to the showdown.
The Washington Post reports new details on DeSantis’ fundraising for his 2019 gubernatorial campaign, shining a spotlight on his close ties to donors even targeting lobbyists. The new information drew a stark contrast to Trump’s messaging of “It is time to drain the swamp.”
“But one of the things he (Trump) did not do was drain the swamp,” DeSantis said. “I mean, the swamps got worse in his four years.”
As for Ramaswamy, he’s now facing two lawsuits from former employees claiming his company pressured them to violate securities laws.
Trailing in the polls, former Vice President Mike Pence has also qualified to participate. But the former president’s legal battles are drawing attention away from his campaign.
Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows told federal investigators last week that he was not aware of any efforts to declassify documents found at Mar-a-Lago. Pence distanced himself from the former president’s public defense in Trump’s documents case, as well.
“I was never made aware of any broad-based effort to declassify documents,” Pence said.
The candidates who do meet all of the RNC criteria will now need to make sure that they signed the required loyalty pledge, a promise to support the eventual nominee, in order to participate.
Trump has publicly vowed not to sign the pledge, saying he would not endorse some of the current candidates vying for the GOP nomination. Qualifying GOP presidential hopefuls have until Monday night to get the pledge signed in order to participate in the debate.