Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
A second Republican primary debate will take place Wednesday night with former president and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump once again choosing to skip the debate.
Seven Republican presidential candidates will face off answering questions about a number of topics, including a likely discussion about Trump in his absence.
What Happened: The second Republican debate will air on Fox Business, a unit of Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOX)(NASDAQ: FOXA). This marked the second straight debate with Fox having the media rights as the first Republican debate aired on its Fox News station.
A Spanish language version of the broadcast will air on Univsion. The debate will also stream on Rumble Inc (NASDAQ: RUM) and Fox Nation.
Coverage starts at 8:30 p.m. ET with the debate scheduled to run from 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.
A poll from Morning Consult showed Republican voters may care less about watching the debates with frontrunner Trump not taking part.
When asked if the debates were very important ahead of the 2024 election, only 38% found this to be true. That figure was down from 49% who said the debates were very important ahead of the first Republican debate.
The survey also found 43% of voters said Trump should participate in all of the debates, down from 48% who said the same prior to the first debate. Another 29% said Trump should participate in some debates, up from 27% prior to the first debate.
A large majority — 72% — of Republican voters said Trump should participate in at least some of the primary debates. Seventy-seven percent of Trump supporters said the former president should participate in some of the debate. Sixty-five percent of non-Trump supporters said the former president should participate in some of the debates.
Related Link: 2024 GOP Debate Recap: Trump Insults, Barbs And More
Who Wins Debate In Trump’s Absence?: The poll asked Republican voters who they thought would win the second Republican primary debate Wednesday night.
Here are the results:
- Vivek Ramaswamy: 32%
- Ron DeSantis: 28%
- Nikki Haley: 12%
- Mike Pence: 10%
- Other: 6%
- Don’t Know: 12%
Haley might be the surprise, picked by 12% to win the second debate. Haley received strong marks after the first debate, ranking third among the eight candidates who were present.
Haley was selected to win the first debate by only 4% of Republican voters ahead of the event, suggesting higher expectations this time around.
Among the key items voters want to hear about at the second debate are the economy and immigration. Both of these items got a higher percentage as being “very important” to discuss compared to the same poll before the first debate.
China as a topic ranked lower in priority, falling from 51% to 46% as a “very important” topic for the candidates to discuss.
Two of the items discussed the most in the first debate were people who weren’t there with candidates often criticizing Trump and President Joe Biden. The latest survey found that it is very important to discuss Biden, 32%, and Trump, 31% in the second debate.
Read Next: Trump Loses Support From Republican Voters, But Holds 43-Point Lead: Which Three Candidates Gained?
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