COLUMBIA, S. C. (AP) — It’s time for the third Republican presidential debate, and there will be an even smaller level line than at the last rally.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch:
The two-hour debate will begin at 8 p. m. ET on Wednesday. It is moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker, as well as the host of Salem Radio Network’s nationally broadcast communications show, Hugh Hewitt.
NBC says the event will be broadcast on its virtual, broadcast and television platforms, NBCNews. com.
As with the other two debates, the Republican National Committee partnered with Rumble, a video-sharing platform popular with some conservatives, to livestream this one, rather than the network’s YouTube channel. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said earlier this year that it was a move to “stay away from big tech. “
The venue for the third Republican debate is the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.
The selection of Florida as a debate venue highlights not only the importance of the state to the overall election, but also that of its two native candidates. Ron DeSantis was re-elected last year for his second term as head of state, which former President Donald Trump has also made his own since leaving the White House.
Florida, once the most dynamic swing state, has turned increasingly red in recent election cycles. In 2016, Democrats had about 327,000 more registered voters in the state. Today, the Republican Party has about 626,000 more registered voters.
The debate is sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which recently held its summit that for years has been a key obstacle for Republican candidates to not only court the Jewish electorate but also present themselves as staunch allies of Israel, a key priority for many in the party’s base, especially evangelical Christians.
This effort is all the more vital given the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. About 43% of Florida’s Jewish electorate supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election, compared with 30% of the Jewish electorate who supported him nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, a poll. of the electorate. DeSantis won forty-five percent of the Jewish electorate in his reelection, when he flipped the historically Democratic county of Miami-Dade and won a majority of the Latino electorate statewide.
Five Republicans will be on stage for the debate, the smallest so far as polls and donor rating criteria increase.
DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and the former governor of New Jersey. Chris Christie will participate in the Miami event.
That means North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who narrowly missed the second debate, may not be on stage. Neither was former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who participated in the first debate but missed the cut for the next two. Vice President Mike Pence, who participated in the first two debates, dropped out of the race.
Trump skips the debate once again, as there was little advantage in joining his lower-ranking rivals on the stage, given his wide lead in the polls. In the third time he has scheduled his own event instead of joining his rivals, Trump held a crusade Wednesday night in Hialeah, Florida, 30 minutes from the debate venue in Miami.
Instead of making appearances at the debate, Trump participated in a pre-recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and met with existing and former union staff amid a bitter labor dispute in Michigan.
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You can reach Meg Kinnard at http://twitter. com/MegKinnardAP.