Former Vice President Mike Pence has met the requirements to appear at the first Republican primary debate, placing another major contender on the Milwaukee stage as former President Donald Trump waffles on whether he’ll show up on Aug. 23.
Mr. Pence passed the Republican National Committee’s polling threshold a while ago, but he reached the 40,000-donor threshold on Monday, his campaign announced Tuesday.
The campaign said that Mr. Pence was the first candidate to submit donor-count verification papers to the RNC and that it “also chose not to employ schemes, giveaways, or gimmicks used by other campaigns.”
The campaign also took a shot at Mr. Pence’s former boss and primary front-runner, Mr. Trump, who has said he might refuse to debate.
“Mike Pence made quick and easy work of the donor threshold and he’s looking forward to a substantive debate about the issues important to the American people,” Pence communications adviser Devin O’Malley said. “Hopefully, former President Trump has the courage to show up.”
Mr. Trump has said he might not debate in Milwaukee because he is the front-runner and will face bias from Fox News moderators. His 2024 rivals say he is being chicken and voters deserve to hear from them, and some say he is waiting until the last minute to confirm his appearance.
Mr. Pence criticized his former political partner in recent days, as Mr. Trump has been hit with a third criminal indictment. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty in various arraignments.
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Mr. Pence said after Mr. Trump was charged with leading an alleged conspiracy against the U.S. following the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump said he feels bad for Mr. Pence because he is “attracting no crowds.”
Mr. Pence joins Mr. Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum in qualifying for the debate stage, according to a list from Politico.
The Pence campaign said it received 200 unique donors from 40 states, exceeding the RNC’s requirement of 200 donors from 20 states. It said that will put the former vice president on track to qualify for the second debate.
Mr. Pence plans to campaign in Iowa this week to visit Davenport and the state fair.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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