Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the first Republican primary debate on August 23, the network announced on Tuesday.
"We are extremely proud to have Bret and Martha moderating the first debate of the 2024 presidential election season as Americans learn more about the candidates ahead of exercising their constitutional right to vote," FOX News Media President Jay Wallace said in a statement.
The debate will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is the host city for the 2024 Republican National Convention, at the Fiserv Forum.
Baier is Fox News Channel's chief political anchor and hosts "Special Report" on weekday evenings at 6 p.m. ET. The program is cable news' highest-rated newscast. MacCallum anchors and serves as executive editor of "The Story," which is the top-rated news program in its 3 p.m. ET time slot.
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Throughout their tenures at the network, Baier and MacCallum have played key roles in the coverage of every major political event. Most recently, they co-anchored special programming for President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address, the 2022 midterm elections, the 2020 presidential election and the 2018 midterms. Their coverage has ranked number one in the ratings, outpacing cable news and broadcast coverage for the past five years.
The Republican National Committee announced in April that the first GOP debate of the 2024 cycle would be held on Fox News.
RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said at the time that "the next President of the United States will be on our debate stage, and we look forward to hosting a fair and transparent platform for our great candidates to debate and share our winning Republican message with voters across the country."
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Former two-term Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who serves as YAF president, said in a statement that "as the premier organization working with young people in the conservative movement, we at Young America’s Foundation are thrilled to be a partner with the Republican National Committee, Fox News, and Rumble for the first Republican Presidential Primary Debate in August. This is a great time to introduce more young Americans to the value of freedom and opportunity for all."
The debate will coincide with the RNC’s summer meeting, which is also being held in Milwaukee, 11 months ahead of next year’s convention.
Now former President Trump is the polling frontrunner to be the GOP nominee for the third consecutive time. It would be the first time the Republican Party had nominated the same candidate three times in a row for president.
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His top challenger is currently Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the increasingly crowded field includes South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
