Former Vice President Mike Pence’s $1.2 million campaign fundraising during the second quarter of 2023 may not be enough to qualify him to take part in next month's Republican National Committee 2024 primary debate.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Pence's campaign raised less than $1.2 million for the second quarter. In comparison, former President Donald Trump raised $35 million and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised $20 million during that time.
The RNC said in June that in order to qualify for the Aug. 23 primary debate stage in Milwaukee, candidates had to have more than "40,000 unique donors to the candidate's principal presidential campaign committee," including a minimum of 200 donors in at least 20 states.
"We'll make the debate stage," the Post reported Pence saying in Iowa on Friday. "I've been very humbled to see our support around the country growing since we announced here in Iowa just about a month ago. We're reaching out to people all across the country who share our vision, our conservative values."
Pence, who announced his candidacy last month, is currently polling at 7.4%, the FiveThirtyEight political polling website reported Saturday, well behind Trump at 49.7% and DeSantis at 21%.
The Hill reported Tuesday that Trump adviser Jason Miller said the former president is "unlikely" to participate in the debate next month.
"At the moment, President Trump has indicated that he's unlikely to participate, at least in the first two debates. He's up by 30, 40, and even new polling shows he's up by almost 50% in certain places," Miller said. "It really wouldn't make much sense for him to go and debate right now with a bunch of folks who are down at 3, 4 and 5%. Even [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis], who's the second-place candidate in the race currently, is at least 20, 30 or 40 points behind."
While he may not debate his GOP rivals in the primary, Miller said Trump is "looking forward" to taking on President Joe Biden in a general election debate.
"We look very much forward to taking on Joe Biden, which is really what this race is going to be about," Miller said. "And at a certain point here, I think the other candidates, who are down at 3, 4 and 5%, have to look in the mirror and say: Hey, is this actually helping their candidacy, or is it really just getting in the way of us beating Joe Biden next year?"
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.