Fox News announced its plans to partner with former President Trump in hosting a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10— which will air simultaneously with CNN's GOP primary debate.
This is Trump's latest effort to divert attention away from his 2024 Republican opponents and not appear at a debate. The event will air in the same 9:00-10:00 p.m. time slot as the CNN presidential debate. Fox News claims the event will have a "focus on the leading issues facing voters ahead of the Iowa Caucus."
"The town hall marks the first time the former president will sit with Baier and MacCallum jointly since May 2020. In June 2023, Baier received praise on both sides of the aisle for his interview with former President Trump," according to the network. Fox said that the anchors, who oversaw the first GOP debate, earned over 13 million viewers— "most-watched debate of the 2024 cycle."
The fifth GOP debate will be the first not to be recognized by the Republican National Committee following immense pressure to scale back the presidential nominating contest that saw Trump's polling go unchallenged by his rivals.
Ohio businessman and GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently criticized RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who has "echoed the grassroots' pro-Trump sentiment in a posture that has observers believing he is angling for a spot on the former president's ticket," according to Trending Politics.
Ramaswamy slammed CNN following their announcement, saying he will instead participate in a town hall with conservative media personality Tim Pool.
On the other hand, Haley called on Trump to participate in the CNN debate.
"As the debate stage continues to shrink, it's getting harder for Donald Trump to hide," she wrote on X.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL.) and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) will likely be the only two candidates to take the stage, which will air just days before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.
The network said that Haley and DeSantis were the only Republican candidates to clear the polling threshold to qualify for the debate.