Pence Confident About Primary Debates: ‘I’ve Debated Donald Trump 1,000 Times’

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at Hilton in Washington on June 23, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Former Vice President Mike Pence told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that he was confident about debating the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, and was committed to the Republican National Committee loyalty pledge.

“People ask me all the time: ‘How do you envision debating Donald Trump?’ And I tell them ‘I’ve debated Donald Trump 1,000 times, just never with the cameras on,’” Mr. Pence said.

“I'll be supporting the Republican nominee,” he said. “Especially if it’s me.”

Mr. Pence said he was proud of the close working relationship he had with the president for four years, with included many disagreements.

“Some of the candidates for president are criticizing the record of the Trump-Pence administration, I’m proud of the record of the Trump-Pence administration, I'll defend it everywhere I go,” he said. “But it didn’t mean the president and I always agreed, I know how to have a good policy debate with the president.”

“I’d look forward to it, and I sure do hope he comes to every single one of those debates.”

Qualifying

Not all candidates have committed to primary debates, but Mr. Pence said in the interview that he would.

“The thing you’ve got to remember about these debates,” he said, “is you’re not talking to each other. You’re talking to the American people.”

“I wouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to talk to the American people about our vision, our experience, our love for this country, for anything. So you better believe in I’m going to be in Milwaukee. We’ll be on that debate stage. And wherever two or more Republican candidates for president are gathered there, I will be also.”

“The great thing about this process is the American people have a chance to take a fresh look at all of the candidates.”

To participate in the first debate, which will be hosted by Fox News on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, candidates need a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, including 200 donors per state or territory in more than 20 states or territories. They also need to poll 1 percent in three national polls, or in two national polls and two early state polls from either Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.

Ronna McDaniel secures a fourth two-year term as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman after a three-day meeting at a luxury resort in Dana Point, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2023. (Mei Li/The Epoch Times)

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has explained the criteria are in place to prevent a two-tiered campaign field like that seen in 2016.

FiveThirtyEight’s averages of national polls as of July 5 showed Mr. Trump leading by far at 52 percent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis following at 23.3 percent, Mr. Pence coming in third at 6.5 percent, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley both at 3.9 percent.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) averaged 3.7 percent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 2.6 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 1.3 percent, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum 0.2 percent.

Will Trump Debate?

Mr. Trump has said he may not join the primary debates, especially given the RNC’s requirement that debate participants pledge to ultimately support the party nominee.

He floated the idea of holding or attending another rally instead.

“We’ve had a lot of offers, whether it’s a rally or whether it’s an interview by somebody else,” he said. “Not to be braggadocious but the debate will not be a very exciting one if I’m not there.”

Indeed, many of the GOP 2024 hopefuls have been vocal about their express interest in debating Mr. Trump in particular.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event in Pickens, S.C., on July 1, 2023. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Mr. DeSantis has indicated he may participate and support the party nominee, saying candidates should “respect the outcome of the process.” On Wednesday, the Republican Party in his home state updated their rules to include a pledge consistent with the RNC pledge, requiring candidates to endorse the party nominee and not run as an independent or third party candidate.

Mr. Ramaswamy and Ms. Haley have also said they would sign the pledge and participate in debates.

“Absolutely irresponsible that Trump, DeSantis, and others won’t commit 100% to supporting the Republican nominee,” Ms. Hayley wrote on Twitter. “There’s no room for personal vendettas in this battle to save our country.”

Mr. Christie, who said he told the RNC the pledge was “a useless idea,” ultimately said voters would see him on stage the night of the debate, and likely Mr. Trump as well.

Pledge aside, candidates are racing to meet the other criteria, with many running $1 campaign drives.

Mr. Hutchinson recently said in terms of donor count, “we’re about 5,000.”

Mr. Burgum, who was a software executive before turning to politics, also has far less name recognition than the frontrunners. In a recent interview with Fox News, he declined to give donor and fundraising figures, sharing instead that he has put $4 million of his own money into campaigning, and that he would “absolutely” meet the August debate criteria.