Republican presidential debate: Start time, candidates, how to watch and stream on CNN

Republicans will hold their fifth presidential debate of the 2024 election Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, and once again former President Donald Trump won’t be on stage.

Trump, who faces 91 felony counts in four criminal cases, will instead appear at a Fox News town hall at the same time, less than two miles away. The event will be co-moderated by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Baier told the Dessert News Trump would only do the town hall if it was at the same time as the Republican debate.

“It was the Trump campaign’s demand,” Baier said. “We offered a number of different times. That was their stipulation.”

» READ MORE: Chris Christie says he’s dropping out of the Republican presidential race before the Iowa caucuses

The former president has yet to join a Republican debate stage, and spent part of Tuesday in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where his lawyers argued he is immune from prosecution for his role in a plot to overturn the 2020 election results.

Wednesday’s debate will air at 9 p.m. Eastern, and is the first Republican debate of the 2024 election cycle to air on CNN. It’s also the last chance for two presidential hopefuls — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — to make an impact ahead of Monday’s Republican Iowa caucuses.

Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination as voters prepare to cast the first ballots of the election. Even Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to ditch neutrality and endorse DeSantis over the former president hasn’t had a noticeable impact on Trump’s popularity leading up to the state’s caucuses.

“There’s obviously a strong implication Trump’s gonna likely win the Iowa caucus,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Haley, told the Associated Press.

Despite that, how Trump wins could be important if he doesn’t live up to the outsized expectations he himself has set by running as an incumbent and refusing to debate his opponents.

“Trump has been polling around 50% plus or minus,” Dennis J. Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, told the New York Times. “If he were to come in at 40, that’s a flashing yellow light. That suggests weaknesses and uncertainty.”

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the fifth Republican debate of the 2024 election cycle:

Wednesday’s Republican debate is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

It will air live on CNN, and stream for free on the network’s website and apps. It will also stream on Max, though a subscription is required.

You can also stream the debate on any subscription service that carries CNN, including YouTubeTV, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, and Fubo.

Just three candidates qualified, including former President Donald Trump, who will once again skip the event. Here are the two candidates who will appear:

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie failed to qualify for CNN’s debate, and Wednesday evening he announced at an event in New Hampshire he was suspending his presidential bid.

“I’ve always said that if there came a point in time in this race where I couldn’t see a path to accomplishing that goal, that I would get out,” Christie said. “And it’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman and self-described nationalist, also failed to qualify, calling it “a desperate bid by CNN to limit the scope of the debate.” He’s scheduled to take part in a competing event with conservative podcaster Tim Pool.

Despite not making it to the debate stage for four straight events, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is continuing his long shot campaign. “I’m still running,” Hutchinson told voters in Iowa last week, according to the Washington Post.

There’s also Texas pastor and business executive Ryan Binkley, whose self-financed campaign has failed to garner much support.

Wednesday’s debate will feature two moderators:

There’s less than a week until the first votes in the 2024 presidential election are cast in the Iowa caucuses.

Pennsylvania’s primary is scheduled for April 23. New Jersey residents won’t vote in the primary until June 4.

Super Tuesday, which includes primary elections in 15 states and features the largest number of Republican delegates up for grabs in a single day, will take place March 5.

Here is a rundown of the early Republican contests:

It’s unclear. In the 2016 election, there were 12 Republican debates.

The Republican National Committee said last month there are no party-sponsored debates scheduled, but candidates are “free to use any forum or format to communicate to voters as they see fit.”

Two upcoming Republican presidential debates are scheduled ahead of the New Hampshire primary: