The Democratic National Committee plans to take to the air over tomorrow's Republican National Committee GOP primary Debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a plane flying a banner insulting the "Make America Great Again" movement.
The Hill reported Tuesday that a DNC spokesperson said the organization-sponsored plane will fly over the Fiserv Forum, pulling a banner reading "GOP 2024: A Race for the Extreme MAGA Base," as eight GOP candidates gather for the party's first debate of the 2024 race.
The report said the banner is part of a larger DNC "media blitz" surrounding the debate that will include three billboards around the venue and a mobile billboard truck criticizing the GOP's record.
DNC Chair Jamie Harrison is planning a press conference to "rebut" the debate, and "an aggressive war room" will also be set up to provide Democratic responses to issues raised during the event, the report said.
Former President Donald Trump, who coined the "Make America Great Again" slogan during his successful 2016 run, said Sunday he will not attend the debate but will broadcast an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson during the same time.
Eight other Republican candidates will be on the stage after meeting the RNC's established criteria of reaching 40,000 unique donors with a minimum of 200 each in at least 20 states, polling 1% in either three national polls or two national and one early state poll, and signing a pledge to support the eventual nominee, according to the RNC's requirements.
The Washington Post lists the candidates participating as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
According to the Post, Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, former Texas congressman Will Hurd, media personality Larry Elder, and business executive Perry Johnson still need to meet the criteria and will not be on the stage.
The report said Elder plans to sue the RNC, claiming he met all the requirements.
"I will fight to be on that debate stage because I fully met all of the requirements to do so," the Post reported Elder posting on social media Tuesday.
Although absent from the debate, Trump is leading a distant second place DeSantis by 37 percentage points, 52.2% to 14.5%, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling website.
Ramaswamy is in third with 8.9%, followed by Pence with 4.2%, Scott at 3.5%, Haley at 3.4%, Christie 3.3%, and Hutchinson and Burgum under 1%.
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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