Politics

(ATLANTA) — The 19 defendants charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia are in the process of negotiating their bond terms and surrendering to be processed and released from the Fulton County Jail prior to the Friday deadline set by the district attorney.

Former President Donald Trump, whose bail was set by a judge at $200,000, is expected to surrender to authorities on Thursday.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Aug 24, 5:26 PM EDT
Trump plane takes off for Atlanta

Trump’s plane has taken off from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport en route to Atlanta for his anticipated booking at the Fulton County Jail this evening.

Aug 24, 4:54 PM EDT
Hearing scheduled on Jeffrey Clark’s bid to move charges to federal court

Judge Steve Jones has set a hearing date of Sept. 18 for former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s bid to move his Fulton County criminal charges to federal court.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may submit a written response to Clark’s notice of removal no later than Sept. 5, according to Jones’ order.

Co-defendants Mark Meadows and David Shafer are also seeking to move their cases into federal court.

Aug 24, 4:29 PM EDT
Trump motorcade pulls into Newark Airport

The motorcade carrying Trump has arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport, where the former president is expected to board a flight to Atlanta for his anticipated booking at the Fulton County Jail this evening.

Aug 24, 4:20 PM EDT
Kenneth Chesebro’s trial date set for Oct. 23

Judge Scott McAfee has set Kenneth Chesebro’s trial to begin on Oct. 23, according to a scheduling order.

The attorney’s arraignment will occur on Sept. 6, unless waived, according to the order.

The deadlines only apply to Chesebro and no other defendant, per the order, which follows Chesebro’s request for a speedy trial filed on Wednesday.

District Attorney Fani Willis had requested an October trial date for all 19 defendants following Chesebro’s request, but Trump is opposing that motion.

Aug 24, 4:01 PM EDT
Trump motorcade leaves Bedminster, New Jersey

Trump’s motorcade has left Bedminster, New Jersey, en route to Newark Liberty International Airport ahead of his anticipated booking at the Fulton County Jail this evening.

Aug 24, 3:45 PM EDT
Mug shots released of Meadows, Harrison Floyd

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has released mug shots of Mark Meadows and Harrison Floyd, the most recent of the case’s 19 defendants to be booked.

All 19 defendants have negotiated their bond packages, except for Floyd, who remains in custody at the Fulton County Jail. Ten of the 19 defendants have been processed and released.

Aug 24, 3:17 PM EDT
Mark Meadows released

Mark Meadows has been released after surrendering at the Fulton County Jail, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said.

The former Trump chief of staff posted bond of $100,000.

The remaining eight defendants who have not yet turned themselves in are expected to surrender by Friday’s noon deadline, the office said.

Aug 24, 3:14 PM EDT
Harrison Floyd booked without securing bond

Harrison Floyd has been booked into Fulton County Jail, according to the Fulton County inmate database. No bond has been set for Floyd, according to his docket.

Floyd did not previously negotiate his bond agreement and remains in custody at the jail, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said.

All of the other defendants who have been booked so far secured their bond package before entering the Fulton County Jail for processing.

The former director of Black Voices for Trump, Floyd allegedly worked to solicit Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman.

Aug 24, 2:48 PM EDT
Trump opposes DA motion for October trial date

In Trump’s first filing in the case, his attorney is now pushing back on the DA’s motion — which requested an Oct. 23 trial start date for all 19 defendants — saying they oppose it.

“President Trump respectfully puts the Court on notice that he opposes the State’s ‘motion for entry of pretrial scheduling order’ and ‘motion to specially set trial,'” the filing states.

Trump attorney Steven Sadow also notified the court that they would be filing “a timely motion” to sever the case from Cheseboro — who requested the speedy trial– as well as any other defendant who “files such a demand.”

“President Trump further respectfully puts the Court on notice that he requests the Court set a scheduling conference at its earliest convenience so he can be heard on the State’s motions for entry of pretrial scheduling order and to specially set trial,” the filing states.

Aug 24, 2:28 PM EDT
Mark Meadows booked into Fulton County Jail

Mark Meadows has been booked at the Fulton County Jail, according to the Fulton County inmate database.

The former chief of staff unsuccessfully tried to prevent his surrender by filing an emergency motion to stay earlier this week, which was rejected on Wednesday.

His bond has been set at $100,000.

Aug 24, 1:35 PM EDT
Bond for former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark set at $100,000

Bond for former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark has been set at $100,000.

Clark’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month, surrendering by noon on Friday and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Clark unsuccessfully tried to prevent his surrender by filing an emergency motion to stay earlier this week, which was rejected Wednesday in district court.

The indictment alleged that Clark, while serving as a high-ranking DOJ official, made false statements in writing and in person to the acting attorney general and deputy attorney general, requesting authorization to tell Georgia officials that the DOJ “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.”

Aug 24, 1:09 PM EDT
DA Fani Willis requests trial date beginning Oct. 23

District Attorney Fani Willis requested a trial start date of Oct. 23, 2023, for all 19 defendants, according to a filing in response to Kenneth Chesebro’s demand for a speedy trial.

“The State of Georgia, through Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, and respectfully requests that this Court specially set the trial in this case to commence for all 19 defendants on October 23, 2023,” the motion said.

Aug 24, 1:06 PM EDT
Former Ye publicist and Trump supporter Trevian Kutti gets $75K bond

Trevian Kutti, a publicist who previously represented controversial musicians R. Kelly and Ye, has been given a $75,000 bond, according to her bond agreement signed by Judge Scott McAfee.

Kutti’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Prosecutors allege that Kutti traveled from Chicago to Atlanta and attempted to contact Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County election worker, in order to convince her to report election fraud claims in testimony.

Aug 24, 12:53 PM EDT
Mark Meadows’ bond set at $100K

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for former chief of staff Mark Meadows at $100,000.

His bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

The bond also included a line to ensure he surrenders at Fulton County Jail by Friday at noon.

“The Defendant shall turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, August 25, 2023. If the Defendant does not turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by this date and time, this consent bond order shall be null and void,” the consent order said.

Meadows had sought to delay surrendering as he tried to get his case moved to federal court, but that was rejected Wednesday.

Aug 24, 12:03 PM EDT
Fulton County DA subpoenas Raffensperger for Mark Meadows hearing next week

Ahead of the hearing scheduled next week over Mark Meadows’ effort to move the Fulton County RICO case to federal court, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has now issued multiple subpoenas for witnesses to appear, according to court filings in the case.

A federal judge last week ordered an “evidentiary hearing” on Meadows’ motion to remove the case to federal court. Now, four witnesses are subpoenaed to appear.

Willis filed subpoenas on Thursday that had been issued for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and investigator Francis Watson — both of whom Trump called in the wake of the 2020 election as part of his alleged effort to overturn the results.

Earlier this week, Willis also filed subpoenas for Kurt Hilbert and Alex Kaufman — both of whom were on the Trump-Raffensperger call, according to a transcript of the call.

The subpoenas instruct the witnesses to appear in court for the Meadows hearing on Monday, according to copies of the subpoenas included in the court filings.

That hearing is set for Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. in Atlanta.

Aug 24, 11:06 AM EDT
GOP-led committee opens investigation into DA Fani Willis

The same day Donald Trump is expected to surrender at Fulton County Jail, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, launched a probe into whether District Attorney Fani Willis coordinated with federal officials, including special counsel Jack Smith.

In a new letter, Jordan demands information and communications with the Department of Justice and federal officials on the funding Willis’ office receives.

“Ms. Willis’s indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding her actions raise serious concerns about whether such actions are politically motivated,” the release states.

Willis rejected any claims of the indictments being politically motivated in a recent radio interview.

“There’s really nothing sexy about this,” Willis told Atlanta Up Close’s Maria Boynton. “There’s allegations of a crime and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges.”

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Peter Charalambous

Aug 24, 8:44 AM EDT
Trump expected to shake up legal team ahead of surrender

Former President Donald Trump is expected to shake up his legal team as soon as Thursday, just hours ahead of plans for Trump to surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News.

Drew Findling is expected to depart the team and be replaced by attorney Steven Sadow, according to the sources.

Aug 24, 7:25 AM EDT
Trump expected to surrender in Georgia Thursday

Former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday.

A judge had set his bond at $200,000 on Tuesday.

Trump and 18 others were charged last week by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.

Aug 23, 6:54 PM EDT
Willis says she had ‘a duty and a responsibility to bring charges’

Speaking on a local Atlanta radio show, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended her decision to bring the sprawling racketeering case, arguing that the case is an even-handed application of the law.

“There’s really nothing sexy about this,” Willis told Atlanta Up Close’s Maria Boynton. “There’s allegations of a crime, and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges.”

The DA also said that recent threats made against her will not deter her from pursuing her case against the former president and his co-defendants.

“In the words of Jay-Z, brush my shoulders off and we just keep pushing,” Willis said. “That is not going to deter me from doing my job.”

Willis described the process of determining defendants’ bond amounts as “literally just plugging things in” to a formula based on factors related to a defendant’s flight risk. She also reiterated her past statement about the requirement for all defendants to surrender for processing by Friday at noon.

“Should people fail to turn themselves in, then a warrant will be filed on the system, and they’ll have to be arrested,” she said.

Of the 19 defendants, 15 have negotiated their bond packages and nine have subsequently been booked and released.

Aug 23, 6:12 PM EDT
Judge denies Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

A federal judge has denied former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ emergency motion seeking removal of his Fulton County case to federal court.

The judge also denied Meadows’ bid to prevent his arrest.

“While Meadows’ imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings,” the judge said in the ruling.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

“The Court determines that, the clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution, does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis’ enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows,” the judge said in denying the motion.

Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed motions seeking to move their cases into federal court.

Aug 23, 6:03 PM EDT
Chesebro files request for a speedy trial

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the DA’s indictment, has filed a request for a speedy trial — a development that a RICO expert says could have a “massive” impact on the case.

Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who is an expert on Georgia racketeering laws — which are known as RICO for short — tells ABC News that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand, they have to be tried within a certain amount of time, or they are acquitted by law.

Though it’s not immediately clear what the exact effect will be in this case, Timmons said that many of the defendants won’t be ready for trial that quickly, meaning the case could end up having multiple trials.

“That completely changes the strategy of this trial,” Timmons said.

Referring to his time as a prosecutor, Timmons said, “We used to view [speedy trial requests] as a declaration of war. It means you are ready to go now.”

Cheseboro, a former Trump-aligned attorney, faces seven counts in the indictment, which alleges that he outlined “multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”

Aug 23, 5:40 PM EDT
Judge denies Clark’s motion for emergency stay

United States District Court Judge Steve Jones has denied Jeffrey Clark’s motion for an emergency stay in his case.

Clark, a former Justice Department official, had sought an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

Clark, in a separate motion, is seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of urging senior DOJ officials to falsely tell Georgia state officials that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns” about the tabulation of election returns in the state.

Aug 23, 5:19 PM EDT
Mug shots released of Giuliani, Powell, Ellis

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has released mug shots of three of the attorneys who prosecutors say helped lead the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Authorities released mug shots taken of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump campaign lawyers Sydney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

Giuliani was processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail. Powell and Ellis were still being processed.

Aug 23, 4:38 PM EDT
Mug shots released of first 6 defendants processed

Authorities have released mug shots of the first six defendants to surrender in the election interference case.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released mug shots taken of attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, Georgia lawyer Ray Smith III and Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall.

All six have been processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail.

Aug 23, 4:12 PM EDT
Willis opposes Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has responded to Mark Meadows’ emergency motion to prevent his arrest and remove his case to federal court, arguing that the former Trump chief of staff’s arguments are “baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law.”

“In essence, the defendant’s emergency motion is a plea to this Court to prevent the defendant from being arrested on the charges lawfully brought by the State of Georgia,” the response said, highlighting that Meadows had previously requested additional time to surrender on two occasions.

Willis argued that Meadows’ removal motion only entitles him to an evidentiary hearing, which is already set for August 28; otherwise, criminal proceedings in the case, including his surrender, can continue as planned, the response said.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

Among other allegations, the DA’s indictment says Meadows traveled to Cobb County Center and “attempted to observe the signature match audit being performed by law enforcement officers and officials from the Georgia Secretary of State despite the fact that the process was not open to the public” and that he sent a text message to a state investigator on Dec. 27, 2020, asking if there was a way to “speed up” results ahead of Jan. 6, “in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Aug 23, 3:35 PM EDT
DA opposes Jeffrey Clark’s motion for emergency stay

District Attorney Fani Willis is contesting former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s request for an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings.

Clark had filed a motion in federal court Tuesday seeking an emergency stay of the proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

In a filing today, Willis wrote that Clark “seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested … but provides this court with no legal basis to justify those ends.”

Clark has filed a separate motion seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of making false statements to senior DOJ officials “urging the officials to let him convey the false information to Georgia State Officials” that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the State of Georgia.”

Aug 23, 3:13 PM EDT
Giuliani surrenders for processing

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has surrendered at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to online records.

Bail for the former New York City mayor was set at $150,000 earlier Wednesday.

He faces 13 counts related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Aug 23, 3:01 PM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell surrenders to authorities

Trump attorney Sidney Powell has surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to the jail’s official website.

Powell faces 16 counts in the DA’s indictment, including two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer theft.

She is accused of conspiring with other co-defendants to commit election fraud by allegedly encouraging and helping people tamper with ballot markers and machines inside an elections office in Coffee County.

Powell’s bail was set at $100,000 Wednesday morning.

Aug 23, 2:54 PM EDT
Judge sets bond for Giuliani at $150,000

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has set bond for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani at $150,000.

As with all defendants in the case, Giuliani’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pre-trial services by phone every month, and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Giuliani’s bond agreement also includes a line to ensure he surrenders at Fulton County Jail by the Friday deadline DA Fani Willis set for all 19 defendants.

“The Defendant shall turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, August 25, 2023. If the Defendant does not turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by this date and time, this consent bond order shall be null and void,” the consent order said.

Giuliani is expected to surrender at the jail later today, sources have told ABC News.

According to prosecutors, Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including by making false statements to state election officials.

Aug 23, 1:56 PM EDT
Giuliani’s attorneys to negotiate his bail, say sources

Two of Rudy Giuliani’s attorneys are at the Fulton County Courthouse, where sources say they’re expected to meet with the district attorney’s staff to negotiate the bond agreement for the former New York City mayor.

Both attorneys declined to comment to ABC News.

After his bond is set, Giuliani is expected to surrender later today for processing at the Fulton County Jail.

Giuliani, Trump’s one-time personal attorney, faces 13 counts in the DA’s indictment, including three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer and three counts of false statements and writing.

Aug 23, 12:10 PM EDT
Former elections director Misty Hampton gets $10K bond

Judge Scott McAfee signed off on a $10,000 bond for Misty Hampton, the former elections director in Coffee County, who was one of the 19 defendants charged in the Fulton County RICO indictment.

Hampton was present in the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when forensic experts from an Atlanta company were allowed to copy software and data from the county’s election equipment, according to prosecutors.

Hampton’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Aug 23, 10:37 AM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell gets $100,000 bond

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for Trump attorney Sidney Powell at $100,000.

Powell’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Powell’s consent order marks the 13th bond package for a defendant so far.

According to prosecutors, Powell allegedly coordinated with an Atlanta company to obtain breached election data from Coffee County. She worked on Trump’s campaign after the 2020 election.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Giuliani: ‘Your rights are in jeopardy’

Rudy Giuliani, who is facing 13 charges in connection with the effort to overturn election results in Georgia, spoke outside his apartment in New York City early Wednesday before heading to Fulton County to surrender.

“I’m going to Georgia and I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I’m defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” Giuliani said.

“The system of justice is politicized and criminalized for politics,” he added. “Your rights are in jeopardy and your children’s. Donald Trump told you this. They weren’t just coming for him. Well, me. Now they’ve indicted people.”

One-time Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state, according to prosecutors in Fulton County, including by making false statements to state election officials and contributing to the harassment of two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Latham, Shafer also turn themselves in

Two more of former President Trump’s co-defendants have surrendered to Fulton County authorities early Wednesday, according to online jail records: Cathy Latham and David Shafer.

Latham, the former GOP chair in Coffee County, is one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state.

Shafer, former Georgia Republican Party chair, is another of the fake Trump electors. He is also among the early defendants to seek to move the case into federal court.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MILWAUKEE, Wisc.) — Many of the headlines from the first GOP primary debate focused on the candidates’ comments on key issues such as abortion, Ukraine and Jan. 6. But the two-hour debate included many other topics on voters’ minds such as climate change, the southern border, mental health and guns, and UFOs.

Candidates on climate change

Climate change was a divisive issue during the debate – and marked one of the first times the candidates clashed on stage.

During the Wednesday debate, candidates fielded a pre-taped question from Alexander Diaz with Young America Foundation, a young conservatives organization, who said polling indicated climate change is “young people’s No. 1 issue.”

“How would you as both President of the United States and leader of the Republican party calm their fears that the Republican party doesn’t care about climate change?” Diaz asked.

Then moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCullum asked the candidates, with a show of hands, if they believed human behavior is causing climate change.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis immediately responded, “Look, we’re not schoolchildren. Let’s have the debate,” in response to raising hands. Instead of arguing climate change’s origins, DeSantis criticized President Joe Biden’s response to the Maui wildfires.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy criticized the “climate change agenda.”

“I’m the only person on this stage who isn’t bought and paid for so I can say this: The climate change agenda is a hoax,” Ramaswamy said as the crowd reacted.

Human activity is nearly universally accepted as a cause for Earth’s warming – with more than 97% of the world’s climate scientists in agreement, according to PolitiFact.

Ramaswamy, who said the climate agenda is stifling the American economy, said “more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

It is not clear how many deaths are linked to climate-change policies, but there have been millions of deaths linked to the climate crisis. The World Meteorological Organization says extreme weather and climate-related events caused disasters connected to more than 2 million deaths between 1970 and 2021. Climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, according to a WHO report.

Ramaswamy later clarified his remarks in an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran, saying he follows the science.

“I said the climate change agenda is a hoax. And I stand by that with conviction,” he told Moran. “I mean, look … climate science wasn’t my background, but I do have a background in molecular biology from Harvard. I am tied to the facts, I believe in science.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Ramaswamy added that “the real emergency isn’t climate change, it’s the man-made disaster of climate change policies that threaten U.S. prosperity.”

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was the only candidate to acknowledge on stage that climate change is real, but said the work begins overseas.

“If you want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions,” Haley said. “That’s where our problem is.”

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said the best thing to do to improve the environment is “bring our jobs home from China.”

During the debate, Biden took to X to weigh in on the topic.

“Climate change is real, by the way,” he wrote.

DeSantis would send troops to border

DeSantis said he would order U.S. troops to Mexico to attack drug traffickers and cartels – an idea he proposed while pivoting away from criticism on his stance on Ukraine aid.

“I am going to declare it a national emergency. I’m not going to send troops to Ukraine, but I am going to send troops to our southern border,” DeSantis said after Haley interjected that the U.S. can both send aid to Ukraine and work on border security.

“When these drug pushers are bringing fentanyl across the border, that’s going to be the last thing they do. We are going to use force and we’re going to leave them stone-cold dead,” DeSantis said.

Later, when asked by a moderator if he would support sending U.S. special forces into Mexico itself — effectively an incursion into another country — to attack “fentanyl labs” and “drug cartel operations,” DeSantis said he would do that on “Day One.”

“You want to talk about a country in decline, you have the cartels controlling a lot of … your southern border. We have to reestablish the rule of law and we have to defend our people… yes, we are going to use lethal force. Yes, we reserve the right to operate,” DeSantis said.

Former Vice President Mike Pence also spoke about operations to take out cartels and drug traffickers, but framed it as engaging with Mexico and working with the Mexican military.

“We will partner with the Mexican military and we will hunt down and destroy the cartels that are claiming lives in the United States of America,” Pence said.

Ramaswamy on mental health and guns

When discussing gun violence, Ramaswamy connected mental health and violent crime — adding that he would reopen closed mental health institutions.

“We also have a mental health epidemic in this country. Just over the same period that we have closed mental health institutions, we have seen a spike in violent crime. Do we have the spine to bring them back?” Ramaswamy said. “I think we should; as president, I will.”

Republicans have often framed the issue of gun violence in America around mental health, although experts have cautioned that mental health cannot be primarily or solely blamed for mass shootings and gun violence.

Experts have also said that people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrate it, and that the discussion of mental illness in relation to gun reform stigmatizes people with mental health disorders.

Ramaswamy’s comments on needing more mental health resources echoes some bipartisan views on increasing access to those resources. The Biden administration has devoted funding from an anti-gun violence bill in Congress to mental health care.

Christie on UFOs – and New Jerseyans

This past summer, Congress held a high-profile hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs — better known as UFOs.

Debate moderator MacCallum, framing the question as something “a little out of this world,” asked Christie if he would “level with the American people” about what the U.S. knows about UFO sightings.

“I get the UFO question? Come on, man,” an exasperated Christie interjected during the question.

The former governor then quipped that he was getting the question because he and MacCallum are both from the same state – New Jersey.

“Look, Martha, and especially coming from a woman from New Jersey, I think it’s horrible that just because I’m from New Jersey, you asked me about unidentified flying objects and martians. We’re different, but we’re not that different,” Christie said with a smile.

MacCallum is originally from Wyckoff, New Jersey and now lives in Summit, a few counties over.

In his more earnest answer, Christie said that “the job of the president of the United States is to level with the American people about everything. The job of the president of the United States is to stand for truth.”

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is launching a probe into Georgia prosecutors — an announcement that came just hours before former President Donald Trump is set to surrender at Fulton County jail.

Jordan said he is investigating whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis coordinated with federal officials, including Special Counsel Jack Smith, in her sweeping election interference indictment against Trump and 18 others.

In a new letter, Jordan is demanding information and communications with the Department of Justice and federal officials on the funding that office receives.

“Ms. Willis’s indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding her actions raise serious concerns about whether such actions are politically motivated,” the press release announcing the inquiry read. “Given the weighty federal interests at stake, the Committee is conducting oversight of this matter to determine whether any legislative reforms are appropriate or necessary.”

Jordan also asked the Department of Justice to turn over details on Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case.

ABC News has reached out to Willis for comment.

Trump and more than a dozen of his allies — including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark — were indicted on Aug. 14 over their alleged efforts to reverse his election loss in the state. Trump is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.

Willis is pursuing charges under Georgia’s racketeering, or RICO, statute.

The Georgia case marks Trump’s fourth criminal indictment this year. He has denied all wrongdoing in each of the three preceding cases, claiming they are examples of political persecution and entering not guilty pleas.

The investigation into Willis isn’t the first time Jordan has demanded information related to a Trump indictment.

Earlier this year, Jordan and other House Republican chairs launched a probe of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into what prosecutors termed was Trump’s alleged hush money “scheme” to boost his electoral chances in 2016. That dispute was resolved in April when Bragg agreed to dismiss his appeal of one ruling and the two sides agreed to allow a high-profile deposition to proceed.

-ABC’s Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — Former President Donald Trump, whose bail was set by a judge at $200,000, is expected to surrender to authorities on Thursday.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Aug 24, 11:06 AM EDT
GOP-led committee opens investigation into DA Fani Willis

The same day Donald Trump is expected to surrender at Fulton County Jail, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, launched a probe into whether District Attorney Fani Willis coordinated with federal officials, including special counsel Jack Smith.

In a new letter, Jordan demands information and communications with the Department of Justice and federal officials on the funding Willis’ office receives.

“Ms. Willis’s indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding her actions raise serious concerns about whether such actions are politically motivated,” the release states.

Willis rejected any claims of the indictments being politically motivated in a recent radio interview.

“There’s really nothing sexy about this,” Willis told Atlanta Up Close’s Maria Boynton. “There’s allegations of a crime and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges.”

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Peter Charalambous

Aug 24, 8:44 AM EDT
Trump expected to shake up legal team ahead of surrender

Former President Donald Trump is expected to shake up his legal team as soon as Thursday, just hours ahead of plans for Trump to surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News.

Drew Findling is expected to depart the team and be replaced by attorney Steven Sadow, according to the sources.

Aug 24, 7:25 AM EDT
Trump expected to surrender in Georgia Thursday

Former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday.

A judge had set his bond at $200,000 on Tuesday.

Trump and 18 others were charged last week by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.

Aug 23, 6:54 PM EDT
Willis says she had ‘a duty and a responsibility to bring charges’

Speaking on a local Atlanta radio show, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended her decision to bring the sprawling racketeering case, arguing that the case is an even-handed application of the law.

“There’s really nothing sexy about this,” Willis told Atlanta Up Close’s Maria Boynton. “There’s allegations of a crime, and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges.”

The DA also said that recent threats made against her will not deter her from pursuing her case against the former president and his co-defendants.

“In the words of Jay-Z, brush my shoulders off and we just keep pushing,” Willis said. “That is not going to deter me from doing my job.”

Willis described the process of determining defendants’ bond amounts as “literally just plugging things in” to a formula based on factors related to a defendant’s flight risk. She also reiterated her past statement about the requirement for all defendants to surrender for processing by Friday at noon.

“Should people fail to turn themselves in, then a warrant will be filed on the system, and they’ll have to be arrested,” she said.

Of the 19 defendants, 15 have negotiated their bond packages and nine have subsequently been booked and released.

Aug 23, 6:12 PM EDT
Judge denies Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

A federal judge has denied former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ emergency motion seeking removal of his Fulton County case to federal court.

The judge also denied Meadows’ bid to prevent his arrest.

“While Meadows’ imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings,” the judge said in the ruling.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

“The Court determines that, the clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution, does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis’ enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows,” the judge said in denying the motion.

Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed motions seeking to move their cases into federal court.

Aug 23, 6:03 PM EDT
Chesebro files request for a speedy trial

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the DA’s indictment, has filed a request for a speedy trial — a development that a RICO expert says could have a “massive” impact on the case.

Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who is an expert on Georgia racketeering laws — which are known as RICO for short — tells ABC News that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand, they have to be tried within a certain amount of time, or they are acquitted by law.

Though it’s not immediately clear what the exact effect will be in this case, Timmons said that many of the defendants won’t be ready for trial that quickly, meaning the case could end up having multiple trials.

“That completely changes the strategy of this trial,” Timmons said.

Referring to his time as a prosecutor, Timmons said, “We used to view [speedy trial requests] as a declaration of war. It means you are ready to go now.”

Cheseboro, a former Trump-aligned attorney, faces seven counts in the indictment, which alleges that he outlined “multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”

Aug 23, 5:40 PM EDT
Judge denies Clark’s motion for emergency stay

United States District Court Judge Steve Jones has denied Jeffrey Clark’s motion for an emergency stay in his case.

Clark, a former Justice Department official, had sought an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

Clark, in a separate motion, is seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of urging senior DOJ officials to falsely tell Georgia state officials that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns” about the tabulation of election returns in the state.

Aug 23, 5:19 PM EDT
Mug shots released of Giuliani, Powell, Ellis

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has released mug shots of three of the attorneys who prosecutors say helped lead the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Authorities released mug shots taken of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump campaign lawyers Sydney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

Giuliani was processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail. Powell and Ellis were still being processed.

Aug 23, 4:38 PM EDT
Mug shots released of first 6 defendants processed

Authorities have released mug shots of the first six defendants to surrender in the election interference case.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released mug shots taken of attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, Georgia lawyer Ray Smith III and Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall.

All six have been processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail.

Aug 23, 4:12 PM EDT
Willis opposes Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has responded to Mark Meadows’ emergency motion to prevent his arrest and remove his case to federal court, arguing that the former Trump chief of staff’s arguments are “baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law.”

“In essence, the defendant’s emergency motion is a plea to this Court to prevent the defendant from being arrested on the charges lawfully brought by the State of Georgia,” the response said, highlighting that Meadows had previously requested additional time to surrender on two occasions.

Willis argued that Meadows’ removal motion only entitles him to an evidentiary hearing, which is already set for August 28; otherwise, criminal proceedings in the case, including his surrender, can continue as planned, the response said.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

Among other allegations, the DA’s indictment says Meadows traveled to Cobb County Center and “attempted to observe the signature match audit being performed by law enforcement officers and officials from the Georgia Secretary of State despite the fact that the process was not open to the public” and that he sent a text message to a state investigator on Dec. 27, 2020, asking if there was a way to “speed up” results ahead of Jan. 6, “in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Aug 23, 3:35 PM EDT
DA opposes Jeffrey Clark’s motion for emergency stay

District Attorney Fani Willis is contesting former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s request for an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings.

Clark had filed a motion in federal court Tuesday seeking an emergency stay of the proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

In a filing today, Willis wrote that Clark “seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested … but provides this court with no legal basis to justify those ends.”

Clark has filed a separate motion seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of making false statements to senior DOJ officials “urging the officials to let him convey the false information to Georgia State Officials” that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the State of Georgia.”

Aug 23, 3:13 PM EDT
Giuliani surrenders for processing

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has surrendered at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to online records.

Bail for the former New York City mayor was set at $150,000 earlier Wednesday.

He faces 13 counts related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Aug 23, 3:01 PM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell surrenders to authorities

Trump attorney Sidney Powell has surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to the jail’s official website.

Powell faces 16 counts in the DA’s indictment, including two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer theft.

She is accused of conspiring with other co-defendants to commit election fraud by allegedly encouraging and helping people tamper with ballot markers and machines inside an elections office in Coffee County.

Powell’s bail was set at $100,000 Wednesday morning.

Aug 23, 2:54 PM EDT
Judge sets bond for Giuliani at $150,000

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has set bond for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani at $150,000.

As with all defendants in the case, Giuliani’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pre-trial services by phone every month, and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Giuliani’s bond agreement also includes a line to ensure he surrenders at Fulton County Jail by the Friday deadline DA Fani Willis set for all 19 defendants.

“The Defendant shall turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, August 25, 2023. If the Defendant does not turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by this date and time, this consent bond order shall be null and void,” the consent order said.

Giuliani is expected to surrender at the jail later today, sources have told ABC News.

According to prosecutors, Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including by making false statements to state election officials.

Aug 23, 1:56 PM EDT
Giuliani’s attorneys to negotiate his bail, say sources

Two of Rudy Giuliani’s attorneys are at the Fulton County Courthouse, where sources say they’re expected to meet with the district attorney’s staff to negotiate the bond agreement for the former New York City mayor.

Both attorneys declined to comment to ABC News.

After his bond is set, Giuliani is expected to surrender later today for processing at the Fulton County Jail.

Giuliani, Trump’s one-time personal attorney, faces 13 counts in the DA’s indictment, including three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer and three counts of false statements and writing.

Aug 23, 12:10 PM EDT
Former elections director Misty Hampton gets $10K bond

Judge Scott McAfee signed off on a $10,000 bond for Misty Hampton, the former elections director in Coffee County, who was one of the 19 defendants charged in the Fulton County RICO indictment.

Hampton was present in the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when forensic experts from an Atlanta company were allowed to copy software and data from the county’s election equipment, according to prosecutors.

Hampton’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Aug 23, 10:37 AM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell gets $100,000 bond

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for Trump attorney Sidney Powell at $100,000.

Powell’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Powell’s consent order marks the 13th bond package for a defendant so far.

According to prosecutors, Powell allegedly coordinated with an Atlanta company to obtain breached election data from Coffee County. She worked on Trump’s campaign after the 2020 election.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Giuliani: ‘Your rights are in jeopardy’

Rudy Giuliani, who is facing 13 charges in connection with the effort to overturn election results in Georgia, spoke outside his apartment in New York City early Wednesday before heading to Fulton County to surrender.

“I’m going to Georgia and I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I’m defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” Giuliani said.

“The system of justice is politicized and criminalized for politics,” he added. “Your rights are in jeopardy and your children’s. Donald Trump told you this. They weren’t just coming for him. Well, me. Now they’ve indicted people.”

One-time Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state, according to prosecutors in Fulton County, including by making false statements to state election officials and contributing to the harassment of two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Latham, Shafer also turn themselves in

Two more of former President Trump’s co-defendants have surrendered to Fulton County authorities early Wednesday, according to online jail records: Cathy Latham and David Shafer.

Latham, the former GOP chair in Coffee County, is one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state.

Shafer, former Georgia Republican Party chair, is another of the fake Trump electors. He is also among the early defendants to seek to move the case into federal court.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — Former President Donald Trump is expected to shake up his legal team as soon as Thursday just hours ahead of plans for Trump to surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News.

Drew Findling is expected to depart the team and be replaced by attorney Steven Sadow, according to the sources.

Findling has served as lead attorney for Trump as it relates to the over two-year probe by the Fulton County district attorney into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Another attorney, Jennifer Little, is expected to remain and work with Sadow.

Sources tell ABC News for now the rest of Trump’s legal teams that are handling cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith and Manhattan District Attorney remain intact.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MILWAUKEE) — Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered for the first primary debate of the 2024 cycle, offering Americans one of their first major chances to start weighing who will be the GOP standard bearer next year.

What voters got was two hours of sharp elbows over everything from age to policy to, of course, former President Donald Trump.

On stage were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Knives out for Ramaswamy

The 38-year-old Ramaswamy was the target of more attacks than any other candidate on stage, and it wasn’t even close.

Ramaswamy, who’s never held office, took hits from Pence and Christie over his experience and Haley over his foreign policy.

“Now is not the time for on-the-job training,” Pence said. “We don’t need to bring in a rookie. We don’t need to bring in people without experience.”

Christie later accused the fast-spoken Ramaswamy of sounding “like ChatGPT,” referring to the popular digital tool, and Haley, after hitting him over his skepticism of aid to Ukraine and comments putting a timetable on support for Israel, accused him of having “no foreign policy experience and it shows.”

“Ramaswamy comes across like the guy in high school that everyone wanted to beat up. In fact, I thought Christie was going to slug him at one point,” said GOP strategist Bob Heckman.

Ramaswamy repeatedly sought to parry, touting his outsider status as a badge of honor and drawing audience applause for saying the U.S. should invest more to protect its own southern border rather than borders of countries overseas, a reference to U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

The barbs were clearly part of an attempt to knock Ramaswamy down a peg, but they also served as recognition of his recent surge in support and attention and he had the second-most speaking time, trailing only Pence.

Voters have organically brought up Ramaswamy to ABC News on the campaign trail, and national and statewide surveys have him rising, with FiveThirtyEight’s polling average showing him in third place by over five points, behind DeSantis and Trump.

Ramaswamy’s campaign touted his performance, with spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin texting ABC News, “Vivek: 1 GOP Establishment: 0.”

“This is my first time in a political debate. And I am thrilled with how it came out. We’ve over-exceeded my expectations,” Ramaswamy also boasted in the spin room after the debate.

Pence, in a departure, takes on attack-dog role

Pence, a seasoned politician known for his staid demeanor, instead, in a stark departure, took on the role of attack dog Wednesday night.

He directed almost all of his ire at Ramaswamy, though he did throw an elbow at the absent Trump, whom he once again said had no right to ask him to reverse the 2020 election results.

Beyond targeting Ramaswamy over his relative lack of experience, Pence also rebuked his foreign policy stances, arguing it was insulting to say that Washington had to choose between supporting Ukraine or border security.

“Anybody that thinks that we can’t solve the problems here in the United States and be the leader the free world has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth,” Pence said.

Pence also repeatedly interrupted other candidates and the moderators to try to get in on whatever topic was being discussed, prompting moderator Bret Baier to interject while he was asking a question.

“Vice President Pence, it really doesn’t help,” Baier said.

Pence, despite his lengthy resume as a House member, governor and vice president, has struggled to break out of the single digits in national polling and surveys in Iowa, where he is hinging much of his campaign, and trying to have a breakout moment is one pathway to a polling boost — though it’s unclear if it worked.

“Pence was going for it big time tonight,” Heckman said. “Knows he needs to slug his way into the top tier.”

DeSantis fights for airtime

DeSantis still holds second place in most national and statewide polls, but recent rises by candidates like Ramaswamy and Scott have fueled questions over how safe his position as the main Trump alternative is.

Besides seeking to fend off other candidates’ rises, he’s also had to fend off negative headlines over his fundraising, staff changes and a monthslong campaign reboot — headlines that could have been put to bed by a strong performance.

In the end, DeSantis wasn’t attacked as much as expected but didn’t appear to falter, sticking to his talking points and ended up fighting for airtime — speaking for the fourth-longest amount of time, behind Pence, Ramaswamy and Christie.

That deficit is largely because he did not engage in many of the debate’s shouting matches, which his allies sought to tout.

“I think he did very well tonight and looked the most presidential of all the candidates. His answers were clear and concise, and he was able to introduce himself as an effective leader, a veteran, and family man. I really appreciate that he spoke directly to the voters instead of engaging in shouting matches like the other candidates,” said Nick Larossi, a Florida lobbyist close to DeSantis’ campaign.

Haley tries to carve out her own lane

Haley seemingly sought to be the adult in the room, touting her conservative bona fides, chiding Ramaswamy for failing to live up to GOP orthodoxy and trying to remain above the fray during some of the sharper exchanges.

At one point, when Christie and Ramaswamy were going back and forth, Haley tried to put a stop to it while at the same time pointing out that she was the only woman on stage.

“This is exactly why Margaret Thatcher said, ‘If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman,'” Haley said.

She also sought to find some safe ground on one of the most difficult topics of the race: abortion.

Rather than get mired in the debate over how many weeks abortion should be allowed for, Haley instead reached for policies that polls show have more support among the broader electorate.

“Can’t we all agree that we should ban late term abortions? Can’t we all agree that we should encourage adoptions? Can’t we all agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe in abortion shouldn’t have to perform them? Can’t we all agree that contraception should be available? And can’t we all agree that we are not going to put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion? Let’s treat this like the like the respectful issue that it is,” she said.

Some strategists ABC News spoke to said they viewed Haley as a winner in the debate — something that was easier given her stubbornly low polling and relatedly low expectations.

“Nikki Haley helped herself the most by the impressive amount of prep she did. I think other camps will take more seriously how much prep is needed to break through on a stage where everyone is basically saying the same thing all the time,” said Gail Gitcho, a GOP strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns who used to work for Ramaswamy’s campaign.

Still some discomfort over Jan. 6

There still appeared to be some discomfort over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, a seminal event that President Joe Biden is expected to highlight in the general election.

When the moderators asked if Pence had done his duty on Jan. 6 by not overturning the election, requesting that those who agreed raise their hands, DeSantis stepped in to prevent the candidates from having to do so.

Many of the candidates ultimately agreed that Pence obeyed his constitutional oath that day, though Hutchinson did draw boos when he called the riot that day an “insurrection.”

DeSantis ultimately said he did think Pence “did his duty.”

“I got no beef with him,” he said.

No consensus on abortion, a little more on Ukraine

Abortion remained a sticky subject for the candidates and underscored the lack of consensus heading into 2024.

Haley wouldn’t say what kind of timetable on restrictions she would support — but said a federal ban was unrealistic. Burgum also said he wouldn’t sign a national ban despite having signed a six-week ban into law in North Dakota.

Pence, meanwhile insisted that there must be a minimum federal standard, and Scott said there should be a national 15-week limit.

On Ukraine, there appeared to be more agreement.

Most of the candidates said they would support more aid to Kyiv, though DeSantis focused mostly on making sure Europe beefs up its share of the support.

Ramaswamy, meanwhile, was the only candidate who said he wouldn’t support more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Trump gets less focus than anticipated but benefits from no major game-changers

Baier had teased that Trump would get top billing in the debate, despite his absence, and some of the fieriest exchanges occurred during the section over whether the candidates would support him as the nominee if he were convicted of a crime.

Six of the eight raised their hands to say they would.

Christie raised eyebrows over his repeated attacks against the former president, and Ramaswamy reiterated his defense of Trump. Other candidates took a vaguer tact of urging voters to look forward.

Still, Trump was not spoken of nearly as much as was anticipated, and overall, the former president could be viewed as a winner of the debate given his hefty polling lead and lack of a fundamental change in the field stemming from the Wednesday event.

“All of the ‘who won’ talk is conjecture without Trump there,” said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee staffer and former top aide to House GOP leadership. “This is rearranging the deck chairs on a boat that’s tied to the dock.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump wasted no time attacking other Republican candidates during his pre-taped interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

“I’m saying, do I sit there for an hour or two hours, whatever it’s going to be and get harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president?” Trump said.

The 46-minute interview — released on Carlson’s X account Wednesday night as the GOP debate got underway — is being seen among the campaigns as an attempt to counterprogram the first debate among 2024 Republican presidential candidates on Fox News.

Trump went after former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in particular, saying Hutchinson shouldn’t be running for president and that Christie runs “solely on the basis” of going after Trump.

Later in the interview, when asked about former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump said he was “disappointed” in his former running mate and that he hasn’t spoken to him “in a long time.”

Trump claimed Pence had the right to send the electoral votes back to the states on Jan. 6, and said he thinks Pence didn’t send back the votes because he “got very bad advice,” accusing “RINOs” of working with Democrats.

Trump also attacked Fox News, claiming it showed favoritism toward other candidates, saying the network “isn’t particularly friendly to me, frankly.”

Carlson fed into Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election in the interview. After being asked if he’s worried the election could be “stolen” from him in 2024, Trump claimed, “Oh, they could. [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell was trying to get senators to impeach me.”

The sit-down interview — which was held in Bedminster, New Jersey — was pre-recorded last week, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Trump has cited his indisputable frontrunner status in the Republican race — despite facing 91 criminal charges for which he maintains his innocence — to suggest that he doesn’t need to give his rivals a platform to attack him.

Trump said his polls allow him to stay cheerful even when he gets indicted: “I think it’s a lot easier because I’m so high in the polls, because it means that people get it. The people see it’s a fraud.”

As the interview dropped, eight candidates — Hutchinson, Christie and Pence, as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — appeared on stage in Milwaukee Wednesday night for the first debate among the GOP candidates.

In the months leading up to the debate, Trump teased whether or not he’d join his rivals on stage, only to reveal last week on his social media platform that he would “NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

Ahead of the interview’s release, Carlson said in a video message on X that Trump approached him about “having a conversation for a far larger audience than he’d receive on cable news.”

It’s unclear precisely how many debates Trump plans on sitting out. Appearing on the conservative “Ruthless” podcast on Wednesday ahead of the Republican debate, Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said the former president currently does not plan to attend the second GOP debate, which will be held in California next month.

LaCivita said Trump is “not going to be in California,” while noting that “he could change his mind at any moment.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — The 19 defendants charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia are in the process of negotiating their bond terms and surrendering to be processed and released from the Fulton County Jail prior to the Friday deadline set by the district attorney.

Former President Donald Trump, whose bail was set by a judge at $200,000, is expected to surrender to authorities on Thursday.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Aug 23, 6:54 PM EDT
Willis says she had ‘a duty and a responsibility to bring charges’

Speaking on a local Atlanta radio show, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended her decision to bring the sprawling racketeering case, arguing that the case is an even-handed application of the law.

“There’s really nothing sexy about this,” Willis told Atlanta Up Close’s Maria Boynton. “There’s allegations of a crime, and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges.”

The DA also said that recent threats made against her will not deter her from pursuing her case against the former president and his co-defendants.

“In the words of Jay-Z, brush my shoulders off and we just keep pushing,” Willis said. “That is not going to deter me from doing my job.”

Willis described the process of determining defendants’ bond amounts as “literally just plugging things in” to a formula based on factors related to a defendant’s flight risk. She also reiterated her past statement about the requirement for all defendants to surrender for processing by Friday at noon.

“Should people fail to turn themselves in, then a warrant will be filed on the system, and they’ll have to be arrested,” she said.

Of the 19 defendants, 15 have negotiated their bond packages and nine have subsequently been booked and released.

Aug 23, 6:12 PM EDT
Judge denies Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

A federal judge has denied former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ emergency motion seeking removal of his Fulton County case to federal court.

The judge also denied Meadows’ bid to prevent his arrest.

“While Meadows’ imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings,” the judge said in the ruling.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

“The Court determines that, the clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution, does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis’ enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows,” the judge said in denying the motion.

Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed motions seeking to move their cases into federal court.

Aug 23, 6:03 PM EDT
Chesebro files request for a speedy trial

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the DA’s indictment, has filed a request for a speedy trial — a development that a RICO expert says could have a “massive” impact on the case.

Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who is an expert on Georgia racketeering laws — which are known as RICO for short — tells ABC News that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand, they have to be tried within a certain amount of time, or they are acquitted by law.

Though it’s not immediately clear what the exact effect will be in this case, Timmons said that many of the defendants won’t be ready for trial that quickly, meaning the case could end up having multiple trials.

“That completely changes the strategy of this trial,” Timmons said.

Referring to his time as a prosecutor, Timmons said, “We used to view [speedy trial requests] as a declaration of war. It means you are ready to go now.”

Cheseboro, a former Trump-aligned attorney, faces seven counts in the indictment, which alleges that he outlined “multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”

Aug 23, 5:40 PM EDT
Judge denies Clark’s motion for emergency stay

United States District Court Judge Steve Jones has denied Jeffrey Clark’s motion for an emergency stay in his case.

Clark, a former Justice Department official, had sought an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

Clark, in a separate motion, is seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of urging senior DOJ officials to falsely tell Georgia state officials that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns” about the tabulation of election returns in the state.

Aug 23, 5:19 PM EDT
Mug shots released of Giuliani, Powell, Ellis

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has released mug shots of three of the attorneys who prosecutors say helped lead the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Authorities released mug shots taken of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump campaign lawyers Sydney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

Giuliani was processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail. Powell and Ellis were still being processed.

Aug 23, 4:38 PM EDT
Mug shots released of first 6 defendants processed

Authorities have released mug shots of the first six defendants to surrender in the election interference case.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released mug shots taken of attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, Georgia lawyer Ray Smith III and Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall.

All six have been processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail.

Aug 23, 4:12 PM EDT
Willis opposes Meadows’ motion to move case to federal court

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has responded to Mark Meadows’ emergency motion to prevent his arrest and remove his case to federal court, arguing that the former Trump chief of staff’s arguments are “baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law.”

“In essence, the defendant’s emergency motion is a plea to this Court to prevent the defendant from being arrested on the charges lawfully brought by the State of Georgia,” the response said, highlighting that Meadows had previously requested additional time to surrender on two occasions.

Willis argued that Meadows’ removal motion only entitles him to an evidentiary hearing, which is already set for August 28; otherwise, criminal proceedings in the case, including his surrender, can continue as planned, the response said.

Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

Among other allegations, the DA’s indictment says Meadows traveled to Cobb County Center and “attempted to observe the signature match audit being performed by law enforcement officers and officials from the Georgia Secretary of State despite the fact that the process was not open to the public” and that he sent a text message to a state investigator on Dec. 27, 2020, asking if there was a way to “speed up” results ahead of Jan. 6, “in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Aug 23, 3:35 PM EDT
DA opposes Jeffrey Clark’s motion for emergency stay

District Attorney Fani Willis is contesting former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s request for an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings.

Clark had filed a motion in federal court Tuesday seeking an emergency stay of the proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court.

In a filing today, Willis wrote that Clark “seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested … but provides this court with no legal basis to justify those ends.”

Clark has filed a separate motion seeking to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the DA’s indictment. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed similar motions.

Clark is accused in the indictment of making false statements to senior DOJ officials “urging the officials to let him convey the false information to Georgia State Officials” that the DOJ had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the State of Georgia.”

Aug 23, 3:13 PM EDT
Giuliani surrenders for processing

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has surrendered at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to online records.

Bail for the former New York City mayor was set at $150,000 earlier Wednesday.

He faces 13 counts related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Aug 23, 3:01 PM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell surrenders to authorities

Trump attorney Sidney Powell has surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail for processing, according to the jail’s official website.

Powell faces 16 counts in the DA’s indictment, including two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer theft.

She is accused of conspiring with other co-defendants to commit election fraud by allegedly encouraging and helping people tamper with ballot markers and machines inside an elections office in Coffee County.

Powell’s bail was set at $100,000 Wednesday morning.

Aug 23, 2:54 PM EDT
Judge sets bond for Giuliani at $150,000

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has set bond for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani at $150,000.

As with all defendants in the case, Giuliani’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pre-trial services by phone every month, and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Giuliani’s bond agreement also includes a line to ensure he surrenders at Fulton County Jail by the Friday deadline DA Fani Willis set for all 19 defendants.

“The Defendant shall turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, August 25, 2023. If the Defendant does not turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by this date and time, this consent bond order shall be null and void,” the consent order said.

Giuliani is expected to surrender at the jail later today, sources have told ABC News.

According to prosecutors, Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including by making false statements to state election officials.

Aug 23, 1:56 PM EDT
Giuliani’s attorneys to negotiate his bail, say sources

Two of Rudy Giuliani’s attorneys are at the Fulton County Courthouse, where sources say they’re expected to meet with the district attorney’s staff to negotiate the bond agreement for the former New York City mayor.

Both attorneys declined to comment to ABC News.

After his bond is set, Giuliani is expected to surrender later today for processing at the Fulton County Jail.

Giuliani, Trump’s one-time personal attorney, faces 13 counts in the DA’s indictment, including three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer and three counts of false statements and writing.

Aug 23, 12:10 PM EDT
Former elections director Misty Hampton gets $10K bond

Judge Scott McAfee signed off on a $10,000 bond for Misty Hampton, the former elections director in Coffee County, who was one of the 19 defendants charged in the Fulton County RICO indictment.

Hampton was present in the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when forensic experts from an Atlanta company were allowed to copy software and data from the county’s election equipment, according to prosecutors.

Hampton’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Aug 23, 10:37 AM EDT
Trump attorney Sidney Powell gets $100,000 bond

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for Trump attorney Sidney Powell at $100,000.

Powell’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Powell’s consent order marks the 13th bond package for a defendant so far.

According to prosecutors, Powell allegedly coordinated with an Atlanta company to obtain breached election data from Coffee County. She worked on Trump’s campaign after the 2020 election.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Giuliani: ‘Your rights are in jeopardy’

Rudy Giuliani, who is facing 13 charges in connection with the effort to overturn election results in Georgia, spoke outside his apartment in New York City early Wednesday before heading to Fulton County to surrender.

“I’m going to Georgia and I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I’m defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” Giuliani said.

“The system of justice is politicized and criminalized for politics,” he added. “Your rights are in jeopardy and your children’s. Donald Trump told you this. They weren’t just coming for him. Well, me. Now they’ve indicted people.”

One-time Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani aided Trump in perpetrating a sweeping effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state, according to prosecutors in Fulton County, including by making false statements to state election officials and contributing to the harassment of two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

Aug 23, 9:05 AM EDT
Latham, Shafer also turn themselves in

Two more of former President Trump’s co-defendants have surrendered to Fulton County authorities early Wednesday, according to online jail records: Cathy Latham and David Shafer.

Latham, the former GOP chair in Coffee County, is one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state.

Shafer, former Georgia Republican Party chair, is another of the fake Trump electors. He is also among the early defendants to seek to move the case into federal court.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary was held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

Eight candidates qualified for a spot on the stage: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Missing from the event was the primary’s early front-runner: former President Donald Trump, who declined to participate and instead released a pre-recorded interview with Tucker Carlson.

ABC News and FiveThirtyEight live-blogged every major moment and highlight from the debate, aired on Fox News, with FiveThirtyEight providing analysis and a closer look at the polling and data behind the politicians. PolitiFact made real-time fact checks of key statements.

Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern:

Aug 23, 8:34 PM EDT
Which issues are Republican voters most concerned about?

Before tonight’s debate kicks off, FiveThirtyEight, The Washington Post and Ipsos partnered to ask Republican voters about how they might vote in the upcoming Republican presidential primaries. Specifically, we asked 4,968 likely Republican voters which issues are most important to them when deciding which candidate to vote for in the primaries, using Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel.

We offered respondents a list of 16 issues and allowed them to select up to three. Of the topics that we asked about, voters were most concerned about “getting inflation or increasing costs under control” (53 percent of respondents selected this issue), something Republican voters have been concerned about since at least the 2022 midterms, according to a previous FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll. Other issues that were top of mind for voters were “controlling immigration” (36 percent), “someone fighting against liberalism and the woke agenda” (25 percent) and “ability to beat Joe Biden” (25 percent).

If tonight’s debate touches upon those top issues, voters might get some clarity on who they are considering voting for when primary season comes around.

-Analysis by Holly Fuong of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:30 PM EDT
The facts about the 2024 GOP hopefuls

At PolitiFact, this is our fifth presidential cycle. We’ve published more than 23,000 fact-checks since launching in 2007, all using our Truth-O-Meter, which rates claims on a scale from True to Pants on Fire false for the most ridiculous claims.

If PolitiFact is new to you, there are a couple of rules of the road.

First, we don’t fact-check every claim every candidate says. We couldn’t … we’d be dead.

We focus on claims that are particularly interesting, in the news or obviously potentially wrong. Our grading scale tries to measure both the literal truth and how voters might interpret a politicians’ words. So if Pence tonight claims that he and Trump “achieved energy independence” in their first three years in office, it can be more complicated to fact-check than you think.

In Pence’s case, yes, the United States did produce more energy than its citizens consumed during the Trump/Pence White House, but that was built on more than a decade of improvements in shale oil and gas production, as well as renewables. And the U.S. did not produce more gasoline than it consumed (which is maybe what you were thinking about). And if that’s not enough, even though the U.S. didn’t use all the energy it produced, it still imported a substantial amount of energy to serve domestic markets.

So far in this cycle, we’ve published 52 fact-checks of the GOP candidates. Our checks tend to follow the polling of the race. We’ve fact-checked Trump 17 times, DeSantis 14 times, Pence six times, Haley and Tim Scott each five times, and so on. We’ll be drawing on those previous fact-checks, as well as the thousands of other claims we’ve vetted, throughout the night.

-Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact

Aug 23, 8:25 PM EDT
Why is the debate in Wisconsin?

I flew to Milwaukee earlier this week to talk to some local voters and learn more about why the GOP decided to have its first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle in the state.

-Analysis by Galen Druke of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:21 PM EDT
DeSantis’s campaign shake-ups

DeSantis remains Trump’s closest challenger, but his support has been dropping over the past several months: He currently trails the former president by nearly 40 percentage points in our national polling average.

With that drop have come some shake-ups in the DeSantis campaign. The campaign has laid off around one-third of its 92-person staff, with the latest cuts coming in July, according to ABC News. Changes stretched all the way to the top: DeSantis replaced his campaign manager with his governor’s office chief of staff. On top of that, some of his top donors have voiced concerns, saying they want DeSantis to recruit more major donors and take a more moderate approach on social issues.

All of that has made this debate crucial for DeSantis, both in terms of trying to chip away at Trump’s lead and proving to his supporters that he actually has a shot. He’s recruited a veteran debate coach and is getting advice from a supportive super PAC, according to The New York Times. That advice? Rather than attack the front-runner, DeSantis should “take a sledgehammer” to Ramaswamy who, unlike DeSantis, is rising in the polls. DeSantis won’t just be trying to win the debate tonight: He’s also aiming to push back against the rolling tide of news that hints at a flailing campaign.

-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:19 PM EDT
Why DeSantis, Ramaswamy will literally be center stage

DeSantis and Ramaswamy, both newcomers to the presidential debate stage, will appear front and center on Wednesday night.

That’s because where candidates will stand was determined by how they are faring in the polls.

More seasoned politicians, such as Pence or Christie, have been placed closer to the outer rim because of their more middling numbers so far. Hutchinson and Burgum will stand on either end.

-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler

Aug 23, 8:16 PM EDT
Which candidates are winning the money race?

Money isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of political campaigns — but it sure helps, especially during the early phases of a primary. And in the 2024 pocketbook primary, the leaders so far are Trump (who raised $17.7 million in April, May and June) and DeSantis (who raised $20.1 million). These figures are striking, but you also have to account for how much time each candidate has been in the race. For instance, DeSantis jumped in in late May, so he had much less time in which to raise that money than Trump. Here’s a chart of who raised the most in the second quarter on a prorated basis.

But there’s also important context that those topline fundraising numbers don’t tell you. For instance, Burgum’s and Ramaswamy’s totals aren’t as impressive as they look — most of their fundraising came from their own wallets rather than from grassroots donors. Burgum self-funded $10.1 million of his $11.8 million haul, and Ramaswamy self-funded $5.0 million of his $7.7 million total.

On the other end of the spectrum, Scott is in better financial shape than his $5.9 million raised would suggest. That’s because he has more than $21 million cash on hand, thanks to money he carried over from his high-rolling Senate campaigns.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:14 PM EDT
Who’s dishing out for advertisements?

One challenger to Trump has surged ahead — in ad buys, at least. Scott announced an $8 million ad buy this month. The bulk of that, $6.6 million, will go toward TV advertisements in early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the Washington Post. That’s on top of the $40 million ad buy planned by a super PAC supporting Scott that was announced last month.

Trump and DeSantis, the two front-runners, had dominated in early ad spending. But challengers like Scott have stepped up as they’ve tried to qualify for debates and raise name recognition in early voting states. Super PACs supporting Haley and Burgum have also increased spending recently. Stand for America Fund, Inc., which is aligned with Haley, spent $2.3 million on ads so far in August, while Best of America, which backs Burgum, has spent $2.1 million, according to reporting from NBC News.

Meanwhile, Trump-supporting PACs have spent millions on the former president’s legal fees as the number of indictments filed against him has risen to four. That will leave less money for spending on ads going forward, but Trump remains the top campaign fundraiser.

-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:00 PM EDT
Trump has a huge lead in the endorsement primary

In 2016, Trump was the ultimate outsider candidate — he didn’t receive a single endorsement from a sitting senator, representative or governor until after he had already won New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. This year, though, he already has a ton of elite support. According to the FiveThirtyEight endorsement tracker, he has 343 endorsement points — nearly eight times as many as DeSantis, who is in second place.

The 2016 race notwithstanding, endorsements have historically been very predictive of who eventually wins a party’s nomination. The candidate with the most FiveThirtyEight endorsement points on the day before the Iowa caucuses has won 11 of the last 17 Republican and Democratic primary fights without an incumbent president. And when that candidate has a dominant endorsement lead, they win even more often: Endorsement leaders who had collected more than 15 percent of the estimated available endorsement points before Iowa won nine times out of 10. And Trump already has 17 percent of all available endorsement points with five months left until Iowa.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:58 PM EDT
Why debates can move the polls

Recent election cycles have shown how debates can substantially alter a candidate’s trajectory. The debates won’t always do this, of course, and early primary polls remain relatively predictive of who will end up winning a party’s nomination. However, a candidate can earn a real polling bounce from a debate — or fall into a valley.

Primary polls are inherently more volatile than general election polls. In a general election, most voters already lean toward one party, so only a small part of the electorate is likely to shift its views over the course of a campaign. But in a primary, voters in one party may be open to multiple candidates because most contenders will share similar views on a number of issues. As a result, exposure to an unfamiliar candidate could prompt voters to begin considering that contender, while a strong or weak performance by a candidate they do know could make them look elsewhere.

For example, early in the 2012 cycle, Texas Gov. Rick Perry appeared to be now-Sen. Mitt Romney’s most serious opponent for the Republican nomination. But in a September 2011 debate, Perry defended a Texas policy that gave undocumented immigrants access to in-state college tuition. The backlash from the GOP base came swiftly, as Perry fell out of contention in the polls, well before a later debate in which he — oops — forgot the name of the third of three federal agencies that he aimed to dismantle as president. Four years later, former tech executive Carly Fiorina had very little support early in the 2016 Republican race, but in August 2015 she stood out in an “undercard” debate. Her polling numbers improved and she made the main stage in subsequent debates, giving her a platform that eventually led Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to make her his vice presidential pick in a last-ditch attempt to rally support against Trump in the 2016 primary.

-Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 8:10 PM EDT
What Trump has said about not attending the debate

Trump teased for months whether or not to attend the first GOP primary debate, citing along the way his yawning leads in early national and statewide polls.

“Why would I allow people at 1 or 2% and 0% to be hitting me with questions all night?” he said in an interview in June with Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

When he ultimately decided to not appear on stage on Wednesday, it was precisely that lead he cited.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on social media, adding, “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

It also appears unlikely that Trump will attend the second debate hosted next month by The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, the administration of which Trump has feuded with in the past.

“He’s not going to be in California,” senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said on the conservative “Ruthless” podcast Wednesday. “Well, first of all, with President Trump, you know, he could change his mind at any moment. Right. But I think he said the other day, he should take his history for face value when he said debates, right? And you should just assume that he won’t until he does.”

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 7:56 PM EDT
Tucker Carlson set to ask Trump about 2020 election, Epstein

Tucker Carlson posted a teaser of his interview with Trump on X, featuring a montage of questions he asked the former president, including, “Do you think [Jeffrey] Epstein killed himself … sincerely?” (Federal officials have said Epstein died by suicide while in custody.)

In the interview, the conservative commentator feeds into Trump’s false claims about the election. After being asked if he’s worried the election could be “stolen” from him again Trump claims, “Oh, they could. [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell was trying to get senators to impeach me.”

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim

Aug 23, 7:43 PM EDT
Meet your PolitiFact contributor

Your humble fact-checker is reporting for duty. I’m Aaron Sharockman, the executive director of PolitiFact. We’re excited to help sort out fact from fiction during tonight’s debate. I’m not omniscient — in case you’re wondering. PolitiFact has a team of more than 30 fact-checkers that has been scrutinizing the candidates’ remarks for months. And wouldn’t you know it, candidates tend to repeat themselves on debate night. I’ll be popping in when we see something that warrants more context or a correction.

-Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact

Aug 23, 7:59 PM EDT
Voters remain dissatisfied with the economy

Why are voters so dissatisfied with Biden’s economy?

That’s one of the questions that will shape the 2024 race as Republicans gear up to select a presidential challenger. Right now, only 36 percent of American adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, according to an AP-NORC poll from Aug. 10-14. Similarly, a Fox News poll from Aug. 11-14 found that only a quarter of American voters say Biden’s policies have made the economy better. Some of this is affected by partisanship: A large majority of Republicans disapprove of his handling of the economy, but Democrats aren’t over the moon either, with only about two-thirds approving, according to the AP poll.

It’s tempting to think this is all a hangover from last summer’s doldrums, when inflation peaked at 9.1 percent last June. Consumer prices might be the most obvious way that everyday Americans interact with the economy. Inflation today is still 3.2 percent higher compared to this time last year, which means prices are still above what they were before the pandemic. The fact that the job market remains strong, with unemployment at historic lows and wages rising, hardly makes an impact when people feel like they’re spending more every time they go to the grocery store and are struggling to pay down debts amid high interest rates. But the truth is, Americans’ view of the economy overall was low when Biden took office during the wobbly beginnings of the COVID-19 recovery, and has never risen above 50 percent.

What do people want from federal policy? They support measures such as taxing the wealthy and corporations more — more than three-quarters of all Americans approve, including 90 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of Republicans, according to an Ipsos/Reuters poll. As it happens, that policy is part of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, his signature inflation-fighting legislative win, but less than half of Americans say they know about the bill.

Biden is working to promote the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislative accomplishments as part of “Bidenomics,” but the fact that there’s a gap between what Biden is doing about the economy and how people feel about it leaves plenty of room for Republican attacks. Indeed, DeSantis has promised to roll back Biden’s economic policies. And the polling so far suggests that, even if the economy improves even more in the next year, Biden might not get credit for it.

-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:38 PM EDT
Memorable moments from debates past

A hallmark of the American electoral process, debates are considered a key showcase for candidates seeking to hold the nation’s top office.

Memorable moments include Ronald Reagan’s witty response to questions about his age and Kamala Harris’ challenge to Joe Biden on segregation and race, which prompted the viral line: “That little girl was me.”

But not all debate highlights are positive. Richard Nixon’s sweating, Al Gore’s relentless sighing and Rick Perry’s “oops” gaffe were considered costly to their campaigns.

“These are the only times we see them side by side,” one expert told ABC News. “They provide opportunities for candidates to either help themselves or hurt themselves.”

-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler

Aug 23, 7:30 PM EDT
Who’s campaigning hardest in the early states?

This debate might be going out to a national audience, but the 2024 Republican presidential primary will be decided on a state-by-state basis — and because they’re the first to vote, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada will have an outsized impact on the race.

We’ve been collecting data on how many times each candidate has visited each early state, and there are some revealing trends. For one thing, the candidates seem to think Iowa and New Hampshire are much more important than South Carolina and Nevada. They’ve visited the first two more than 90 times each but South Carolina only 30 times and Nevada only four times. In addition, some candidates seem to be putting all their eggs in either New Hampshire’s or Iowa’s basket. For example, Christie and Hurd are focusing almost exclusively on New Hampshire — perhaps the famously independent Granite State will prove more receptive to their anti-Trump brand. Hutchinson, meanwhile, is focusing on Iowa.

Overall, Ramaswamy and Haley have paid the most visits to early states — though that’s partly because they announced their campaigns earlier than most other candidates.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:23 PM EDT
Early state check-in: South Carolina

Trump maintains a lead of 28 percentage points over his nearest competitor in South Carolina, according to the latest polls.

Haley and Scott, the two candidates from South Carolina, are both polling higher in South Carolina than they are nationally, according to our polling average. Trump is polling about 7 points lower in South Carolina than in national polls.

Only one pollster, the Manhattan Institute has tested the favorability of Republican candidates in South Carolina since July 1. That survey found Scott and DeSantis had the highest net favorability in the state (+56 and +55 percentage points, respectively), and Trump and Haley close behind (+39 and +33 points, respectively). Pence had a net favorability of +1 point, and Christie was underwater by -36 points.

Economic issues are most important to Republican primary voters in South Carolina, according to a July survey from Fox Business/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research. Fifty-one percent of Republican voters said economic issues would be most important for deciding their vote. Twelve percent each said immigration issues, social issues and foreign policy were most important.

In an August survey by National Public Affairs, 40 percent of South Carolina Republican voters said that Trump wouldn’t lose their support even if he did not show up to the debate. Twelve percent said that they support Trump, but if he didn’t debate they would be open to or definitely supporting someone else, 32 percent said they wouldn’t vote for Trump regardless, 9 percent said they probably wouldn’t watch the debate anyway and 6 percent were unsure.

-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:21 PM EDT
Early state check-in: New Hampshire

Trump maintains a lead of 30 percentage points over his nearest competitor in New Hampshire, according to the latest polls.

Christie and Scott are both polling about 5 points higher in New Hampshire than they are nationally, according to our polling average. Trump is polling about 10 points lower in New Hampshire than in national polls.

In a July survey from the University of New Hampshire, only 36 percent of New Hampshire Republican voters said they have definitely decided who they will vote for. Forty-five percent said they are leaning to someone, and 17 percent said they are still trying to decide. Voters who said they plan to vote for Trump are most likely to say they are definitely decided (76 percent), whereas voters who said they plan to vote for DeSantis are most likely to say they are leaning to someone but not definitely decided (72 percent). Fifty-three percent of voters who said they plan to vote for Christie said they are still trying to decide who to vote for.

Scott and Ramaswamy have the highest favorability among New Hampshire Republicans. Pence, Hutchinson and Christie are all underwater.

New Hampshire Republicans are more interested in economic issues than social issues, according to a late June poll by Saint Anselm College. Seventy-five percent of registered Republican primary voters said they would prefer the 2024 election be dominated by debate over economic issues, while just 15 percent said they would prefer social issues.

-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:18 PM EDT
Early state check-in: Iowa

Trump maintains a lead of 25 percentage points over his nearest competitor in Iowa, according to the latest polls.

DeSantis and Scott are both polling higher in Iowa than they are nationally, according to our polling average. Trump is polling about 10 points lower in Iowa than in national polls.

According to a July poll from J.L. Partners/DailyMail.com, only 51 percent of Iowa Republicans said their mind was made up. Forty-three percent said they could still be persuaded to support another candidate. Voters who said they plan to vote for Trump were the most likely to say their mind is made up, with 80 percent saying so compared with 37 percent of those who said they plan to vote for DeSantis and 11 percent of those who said they plan to vote for Scott.

Scott and DeSantis have the highest net favorability among Iowa Republican voters. Pence, Christie and Hutchinson are underwater.

In an early state poll from the Manhattan Institute conducted in July, Iowa Republicans are split on whether electability is important. Forty-six percent of Iowa Republican voters say that it is most important for Republican candidates to win elections and be in power, even if that means compromising or moderating their positions, while 45 percent said it is most important for candidates to stay true to their principles, even if that means losing elections.

Iowa Republicans also think that skipping primary debates shows weakness more than strength, according to a July Fox Business/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research survey. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans said skipping the debate shows weakness, while 27 percent said it shows strength.

-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:14 PM EDT
Candidate favorability vs. President Biden

If you’re trying to gauge which Republican primary candidate would perform best against Biden in next year’s general election — their “electability” — their favorability ratings are a helpful signal. According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages, Biden is viewed favorably by 41.6 percent of U.S. adults and unfavorably by 53.9 percent, for a net rating of -12.3 percentage points. That compares to a net favorability rating for Trump of -16.5 points (39.7 percent favorable and 56.2 percent unfavorable). Given those numbers, a reasonable observer might expect Biden to beat Trump in the popular vote in 2024, all else being equal. (Of course, it never is).

Many of the other candidates — like Ramaswamy and Scott — have higher net favorability than Biden. But that doesn’t mean they’d actually perform better against the incumbent president in a general election. Candidates’ net favorability tends to decline as more people know them. To get a sense of how popular some of the less-known candidates are, we can use a regression model to quantify the relationship between name recognition and net favorability and then estimate what each candidate’s net favorability rating should be based on how many people know them. Then, we can compare the actual number to that benchmark and get a better sense of who is overperforming or underperforming. On this metric, Scott and Ramaswamy score the best of the non-Trump field, with current net ratings that are 5 and 6 percentage points, respectively, higher than we would predict for them. Christie, meanwhile, trails the field with a net favorability rating 15 percentage points lower than his benchmark.

-Analysis by G. Elliott Morris of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:18 PM EDT
RNC to pitch early voting with ad featuring Trump, other candidates

The Republican National Committee will release an ad during the debate Wednesday night promoting early voting — a method that some in the GOP acknowledge they have fallen behind on in recent years.

Included in the ad are RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, former Vice President Pence and former President Trump, who promotes the party’s new early voting effort launched earlier this year.

The party is also planning to have a Bank Your Vote booth in Milwaukee on Wednesday, with absentee ballot request forms from all 56 states and territories.

The GOP has struggled to regain parity with Democrats on early voting after Trump baselessly lambasted the method as ripe for widespread fraud, without providing evidence for his claims.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 7:29 PM EDT
Will Biden debate the GOP victor? His team is noncommittal — for now

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign was noncommittal Wednesday when asked if he would debate the ultimate GOP presidential nominee.

“We have not had a conversation about that at all,” Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond told reporters during a press conference Wednesday. “I’m sure one day we will. But it’s not today and I don’t have any news on that. But what we’re going to continue to do is continue to govern because Vice President [Kamala] Harris and President Biden have a job to do and they take it serious. So when we have news on that, we’ll let you know.”

Biden and his allies have gone after the entire Republican primary field, tying them all to the “MAGA” brand of former President Trump.

However, the future of presidential general election debates is up in the air after the Republican National Committee last year voted to quit the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan group that has put on general election debates since 1988.

Biden’s campaign also defended its decision to not engage in any Democratic primary debates, boasting that the president, as the incumbent, is the presumed nominee despite facing challenges from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 7:29 PM EDT
Biden says he’ll try to watch some of the debate, doesn’t have high expectations

President Joe Biden said earlier Wednesday that he will try to watch some of the debate that could help determine who his opponent will be next year.

Yet when asked by a reporter what his “expectation” is, Biden simply responded, “I have none,” with a laugh.

Trump, the primary front-runner so far, is not appearing at Wednesday’s debate, lowering the chances that Biden’s general election opponent will be on stage.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 7:06 PM EDT
How to evaluate the debate like a pro

In the aftermath of a debate, it can be hard to figure out the actual impact of a viral moment or heated exchange. Here are some data-driven approaches that can help cut through the noise:

First, ignore “instant polls” that ask questions only among people who watched the debate. That group is not likely to represent the feelings of the broader population. Instead, look for post-debate polls — (like ours with Ipsos and the Washington Post) — that ask questions among the same group of Americans both pre- and post-debate.

Second, in the days following the debate, look at data that captures attention to candidates, such as trends in search results or media coverage, to determine which candidate made the biggest splash. Media attention is crucial for candidates who aren’t well known to gain traction in the polls and with donors.

Finally, look for changes in horse-race polls in the week or two after the debate. There is a lot of noise in primary polls (especially this time around) and it can take some time for changes in public opinion to be reflected in our polling average.

The big thing to remember is that what’s important to journalists and television pundits may not be what’s important to the public, and we have to wait for pollsters to ask them how they feel.

-Analysis by G. Elliott Morris of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:05 PM EDT
Larry Elder, Perry Johnson contend they are not going down without a fight

They didn’t qualify for the debate stage. Now, they’re vowing to take legal action.

Holding his own press conference outside the debate venue earlier Wednesday, Elder said he would file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission if wasn’t allowed on stage — which he later followed through on.

ABC asked him if he still plans on watching or attending the debate if they don’t respond, to which he said: “I’ll be there, one way or the other, but I’m going to be up on that stage, trust me. If I were a betting person, and I’m not, I would bet the forum that Larry Elder is going to be on that debate stage.”

Johnson is planning to file two lawsuits against the GOP, he said in an interview with ABC News Radio National Correspondent Steven Portnoy.

Ahead of the debate, Johnson’s team was spotted across the street from the Fiserv Forum wearing “Perry vs Everybody” shirts.

On Tuesday, McDaniel told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott that the party was not trying to spite candidates who did not reach their requirements.

“They’ve got time for other debates and they can still continue to work towards California in September,” McDaniel said. “This has nothing to do with them. We just stuck to our rules.”

-ABC News’ Kendall Ross, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Isabella Murray

Aug 23, 7:01 PM EDT
Burgum will debate, already fundraising off injury

Burgum’s debate appearance was in doubt after he suffered an injury while playing pick-up basketball with his staff.

Just hours before the start time, he announced he’ll be on stage after all.

I’m in pic.twitter.com/DZqLf3Yxik

— Doug Burgum (Text “DOUG” to 70177) (@DougBurgum) August 23, 2023

His team is already fundraising off the incident, selling T-shirts with a silhouette of a cowboy hat-clad Burgum playing basketball — a twist on the famous Nike Air Jordan “Jumpman” logo.

Earlier in the day, the governor was visibly emotional as he discussed the pain he was feeling with ABC News.

“I’m someone who’s never taken prescription pain meds and I’m not doing that today. Even though people said that’d be a good idea. Because I’d rather … I mean so many Americans make so many sacrifices, think law enforcement, think of military, what they do for all of us,” he said.

“I mean, if you’re gonna lead this country, you got to be able to stand on one leg for two hours. You know, it’s not, it’s not ‘Dancing with the Stars.'”

-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler and Oren Oppenheim

Aug 23, 6:49 PM EDT
Check in on our polling average

As you watch the debate, keep an eye on which candidates separate themselves from the crowd. That’s because right now, the Republican presidential primary is not so much a race for first place as it is for second and third. FiveThirtyEight’s latest average of national GOP primary polls has Trump at 52 percent of the vote among likely Republican primary voters. DeSantis is a distant second at 15 percent, Ramaswamy is at 10 percent, Pence and Scott are at 4 percent, and Haley and Christie are at 3 percent. Everyone else is below 1 percent.

Trump’s lead will be very hard for the other candidates to close — so their best hope at this point is to stay in the game, in case Trump drops out (unlikely as that seems right now) or something else changes. DeSantis is currently in position to be the would-be front-runner if Trump drops out, but depending on debate performances and other factors, he could wind up in a close race with one of the other candidates currently clustered in that 5-10 percent range.

-Analysis by G. Elliott Morris of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 6:51 PM EDT
Biden campaign drives ‘Dark Brandon’ mobile billboard outside venue

Hours before eight Republicans take the debate stage, Democrats appear to be going on offense around the site of the event.

The Biden campaign rolled around a mobile billboard around Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum which depicts “Dark Brandon” — President Joe Biden’s satirical alter ego.

The Biden campaign is rolling around a “Dark Brandon” mobile billboard around the site of tonight’s Republican debate in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/E0lIJt35Hw

— Fritz Farrow (@FritzFarrow) August 23, 2023

The billboard hits Republicans on their abortion positions, particularly their support for restricting the procedure.

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow

Aug 23, 6:50 PM EDT
Trump surrogates swarm the debate in his absence

Trump campaign surrogates like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have been spending the day on media row touting Trump’s policies to various news outlets. She has plans to host a post-debate analysis show with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network.

Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle have also been live-streaming for his podcast outside the debate arena since Wednesday afternoon, joined by other Trump surrogates like Greene, Gaetz, and Kari Lake.

On the podcast, Donald Trump Jr., Guilfoyle and various surrogates sought to downplay the debate, calling the stage a “VP debate,” a “kids’ table” at a Thanksgiving dinner, and a “secretary of education debate.”

Other candidates have criticized the former president for declining to face them and make his pitch to voters in Milwaukee.

Lake on the Donald Trump Jr. podcast also said she spoke with the former president earlier on Wednesday afternoon about the pre-taped Tucker Carlson interview scheduled to be released Wednesday, saying it will be a “good interview.” She said the elder Trump sounded “really good” in the afternoon but told her that “things are going to get worse before they get better.”

-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim and Lalee Ibssa

Aug 23, 6:53 PM EDT
Candidates prepare for their first debate in unique ways

As Republican candidates gear up for the debate, many have specific rituals they’ll be doing in preparation.

A campaign adviser for Haley said she will be listening to music, “lots and lots of music: Joan Jett, Queen, Def Leppard and [the] Go-Gos, to name a few.”

DeSantis has spent today with his wife, Casey, and their three children, though a campaign spokesman offered few details about how the family has spent their time.

Hutchinson posted a photo of himself preparing with notepad and laptop in hand.

“Some last minute studying and prep for tomorrow! It’s important to show up and be ready to answer the tough questions, you deserve nothing less than a leader ready to lead on day one,” Hutchinson captioned the photo online.

Pence will plan to spend time in prayer before the debate, while Scott took a tour of the debate stage, which he posted a video of, along with encouragements from his family, to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Others prepared physically, earlier this week.

Ramaswamy posted videos to X of himself playing tennis and him and his wife doing floor exercises in a gym throughout the lead-up week.

Burgum was playing a stress-relieving pickup game of basketball on the eve of the debate, according to a campaign press secretary, when he sustained an Achilles injury that called into question his ability to participate in the event.

He will be participating, albeit on crutches, per a photo posted to his X account.

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Libby Cathey, Abby Cruz, Will McDuffie and Olivia Osteen

Aug 23, 6:42 PM EDT
How tonight’s debate participants qualified

Recent initial primary debates have involved a lot of candidates — 17 for Republicans in 2016 and 20 for Democrats in 2020 — across two debates, either on the same night or across two evenings. To lead off the 2024 cycle, Republicans will have a more intimate affair, with eight contenders taking the stage tonight. That number could’ve been slightly larger, however, as nine GOP candidates met the RNC’s debate qualification criteria for polls and donors. But Trump isn’t participating, having refused to sign a mandated loyalty pledge promising to support the eventual GOP nominee in the general election, so there will be only eight lecterns on stage.

Eligible participants either earned 1 percent support in three national polls or at least 1 percent in two national polls and two polls from the first four states voting in the GOP primary (each coming from separate states), based on surveys that meet certain criteria for inclusion. They also attracted donations from at least 40,000 unique contributors, with at least 200 donors from 20 or more states and/or territories.

Meeting these criteria was straightforward for most of the candidates, as by the end of July, seven (including Trump) had enough qualifying polls and donors to make the stage. Lagging behind, Pence became the eighth eligible contender when his campaign announced on Aug. 7 that he brought in enough unique donors. Hutchinson had enough surveys in hand by late July, but he only announced on Sunday that he had reached the 40,000 donor mark, coming in just under the deadline.

But there was last-minute drama, as businessman Perry Johnson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez each said they had qualified, only for the RNC to leave them off its final list of participants. Johnson in particular may have a bone to pick, as he claimed that the RNC initially indicated that he had enough polls, and our analysis suggests he did, too. Larry Elder, who along with Johnson hasn’t met FiveThirtyEight’s criteria for being considered a major candidate, also claimed he had made it,> but one of the polls he cited did not have a large enough sample size to meet the RNC’s criteria. Johnson and Elder announced yesterday that they were suing the RNC. Suarez, Johnson, Elder and Hurd all had enough donors to make the stage but, controversially or not, lacked the polls in the end.

-Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 6:38 PM EDT
Where the abortion issue stands ahead of the debate

After winning a 50-year fight to get Roe v. Wade overruled last year, the Republican Party faces tough questions on abortion access.

Should abortion be banned at conception or later? What exceptions should be allowed — and if there are exceptions, how should that be enforced? Which medical emergencies would qualify? And should these decisions be made at the federal or state level?

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

Aug 23, 6:37 PM EDT
Trump won’t be at the GOP debate. Will it matter?

Trump is snubbing the Republican National Committee and Fox News by counterprogramming the first GOP primary debate with an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Without the de facto GOP leader on stage, strategists are wondering how much the debate can shake up the race.

“For the trajectory of the entire primary, I don’t think it matters that he’s not there. I mean, probably no one remembers this debate after the next debate,” said GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, a presidential campaign veteran.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 6:37 PM EDT
What to watch for in 1st Republican primary debate

As several of the 2024 Republican presidential candidates are set to square off for the first time tonight, here are seven things to watch for during the debate.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary will begin shortly in Milwaukee.

Eight candidates have qualified for a spot on the stage: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Missing from the event will be the primary’s early front-runner: former President Donald Trump, who declined to participate and is instead releasing an interview with Tucker Carlson.

ABC News and FiveThirtyEight will be live-blogging every major moment and highlight from the debate, which begins at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox News, with FiveThirtyEight providing analysis and a closer look at the polling and data behind the politicians. PolitiFact will be making real-time fact checks of key statements.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Aug 23, 7:06 PM EDT
How to evaluate the debate like a pro

In the aftermath of a debate, it can be hard to figure out the actual impact of a viral moment or heated exchange. Here are some data-driven approaches that can help cut through the noise:

First, ignore “instant polls” that ask questions only among people who watched the debate. That group is not likely to represent the feelings of the broader population. Instead, look for post-debate polls — (like ours with Ipsos and the Washington Post) — that ask questions among the same group of Americans both pre- and post-debate.

Second, in the days following the debate, look at data that captures attention to candidates, such as trends in search results or media coverage, to determine which candidate made the biggest splash. Media attention is crucial for candidates who aren’t well known to gain traction in the polls and with donors.

Finally, look for changes in horse-race polls in the week or two after the debate. There is a lot of noise in primary polls (especially this time around) and it can take some time for changes in public opinion to be reflected in our polling average.

The big thing to remember is that what’s important to journalists and television pundits may not be what’s important to the public, and we have to wait for pollsters to ask them how they feel.

-Analysis by G. Elliott Morris of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 7:05 PM EDT
Larry Elder, Perry Johnson contend they are not going down without a fight

They didn’t qualify for the debate stage. Now, they’re vowing to take legal action.

Holding his own press conference outside the debate venue earlier Wednesday, Elder said he would file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission if wasn’t allowed on stage

ABC asked him if he still plans on watching or attending the debate if they don’t respond, to which he said: “I’ll be there, one way or the other, but I’m going to be up on that stage, trust me. If I were a betting person, and I’m not, I would bet the forum that Larry Elder is going to be on that debate stage.”

Johnson is planning to file two lawsuits against the GOP, he said in an interview with ABC News Radio National Correspondent Steven Portnoy.

Ahead of the debate, Johnson’s team was spotted across the street from the Fiserv Forum wearing “Perry vs Everybody” shirts.

-ABC News’ Kendall Ross and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim

Aug 23, 7:01 PM EDT
Burgum will debate, already fundraising off injury

Burgum’s debate appearance was in doubt after he suffered an injury while playing pick-up basketball with his staff.

Just hours before the start time, he announced he’ll be on stage after all.

I’m in pic.twitter.com/DZqLf3Yxik

— Doug Burgum (Text “DOUG” to 70177) (@DougBurgum) August 23, 2023

His team is already fundraising off the incident, selling T-shirts with a silhouette of a cowboy hat-clad Burgum playing basketball — a twist on the famous Nike Air Jordan “Jumpman” logo.

Earlier in the day, the governor was visibly emotional as he discussed the pain he was feeling with ABC News.

“I’m someone who’s never taken prescription pain meds and I’m not doing that today. Even though people said that’d be a good idea. Because I’d rather … I mean so many Americans make so many sacrifices, think law enforcement, think of military, what they do for all of us,” he said.

“I mean, if you’re gonna lead this country, you got to be able to stand on one leg for two hours. You know, it’s not, it’s not ‘Dancing with the Stars.'”

-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler and Oren Oppenheim

Aug 23, 6:49 PM EDT
Check in on our polling average

As you watch the debate, keep an eye on which candidates separate themselves from the crowd. That’s because right now, the Republican presidential primary is not so much a race for first place as it is for second and third. FiveThirtyEight’s latest average of national GOP primary polls has Trump at 52 percent of the vote among likely Republican primary voters. DeSantis is a distant second at 15 percent, Ramaswamy is at 10 percent, Pence and Scott are at 4 percent, and Haley and Christie are at 3 percent. Everyone else is below 1 percent.

Trump’s lead will be very hard for the other candidates to close — so their best hope at this point is to stay in the game, in case Trump drops out (unlikely as that seems right now) or something else changes. DeSantis is currently in position to be the would-be front-runner if Trump drops out, but depending on debate performances and other factors, he could wind up in a close race with one of the other candidates currently clustered in that 5-10 percent range.

-Analysis by G. Elliott Morris of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 6:51 PM EDT
Biden campaign drives ‘Dark Brandon’ mobile billboard outside venue

Hours before eight Republicans take the debate stage, Democrats appear to be going on offense around the site of the event.

The Biden campaign rolled around a mobile billboard around Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum which depicts “Dark Brandon” — President Joe Biden’s satirical alter ego.

The Biden campaign is rolling around a “Dark Brandon” mobile billboard around the site of tonight’s Republican debate in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/E0lIJt35Hw

— Fritz Farrow (@FritzFarrow) August 23, 2023

The billboard hits Republicans on their abortion positions, particularly their support for restricting the procedure.

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow

Aug 23, 6:50 PM EDT
Trump surrogates swarm the debate in his absence

Trump campaign surrogates like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have been spending the day on media row touting Trump’s policies to various news outlets. She has plans to host a post-debate analysis show with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network.

Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle have also been live-streaming for his podcast outside the debate arena since Wednesday afternoon, joined by other Trump surrogates like Greene, Gaetz, and Kari Lake.

On the podcast, Donald Trump Jr., Guilfoyle and various surrogates sought to downplay the debate, calling the stage a “VP debate,” a “kids’ table” at a Thanksgiving dinner, and a “secretary of education debate.”

Other candidates have criticized the former president for declining to face them and make his pitch to voters in Milwaukee.

Lake on the Donald Trump Jr. podcast also said she spoke with the former president earlier on Wednesday afternoon about the pre-taped Tucker Carlson interview scheduled to be released Wednesday, saying it will be a “good interview.” She said the elder Trump sounded “really good” in the afternoon but told her that “things are going to get worse before they get better.”

-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim and Lalee Ibssa

Aug 23, 6:53 PM EDT
Candidates prepare for their first debate in unique ways

As Republican candidates gear up for the debate, many have specific rituals they’ll be doing in preparation.

A campaign adviser for Haley said she will be listening to music, “lots and lots of music: Joan Jett, Queen, Def Leppard and [the] Go-Gos, to name a few.”

DeSantis has spent today with his wife, Casey, and their three children, though a campaign spokesman offered few details about how the family has spent their time.

Hutchinson posted a photo of himself preparing with notepad and laptop in hand.

“Some last minute studying and prep for tomorrow! It’s important to show up and be ready to answer the tough questions, you deserve nothing less than a leader ready to lead on day one,” Hutchinson captioned the photo online.

Pence will plan to spend time in prayer before the debate, while Scott took a tour of the debate stage, which he posted a video of, along with encouragements from his family, to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Others prepared physically, earlier this week.

Ramaswamy posted videos to X of himself playing tennis and him and his wife doing floor exercises in a gym throughout the lead-up week.

Burgum was playing a stress-relieving pickup game of basketball on the eve of the debate, according to a campaign press secretary, when he sustained an Achilles injury that called into question his ability to participate in the event.

He will be participating, albeit on crutches, per a photo posted to his X account.

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Libby Cathey, Abby Cruz, Will McDuffie and Olivia Osteen

Aug 23, 6:42 PM EDT
How tonight’s debate participants qualified

Recent initial primary debates have involved a lot of candidates — 17 for Republicans in 2016 and 20 for Democrats in 2020 — across two debates, either on the same night or across two evenings. To lead off the 2024 cycle, Republicans will have a more intimate affair, with eight contenders taking the stage tonight. That number could’ve been slightly larger, however, as nine GOP candidates met the RNC’s debate qualification criteria for polls and donors. But Trump isn’t participating, having refused to sign a mandated loyalty pledge promising to support the eventual GOP nominee in the general election, so there will be only eight lecterns on stage.

Eligible participants either earned 1 percent support in three national polls or at least 1 percent in two national polls and two polls from the first four states voting in the GOP primary (each coming from separate states), based on surveys that meet certain criteria for inclusion. They also attracted donations from at least 40,000 unique contributors, with at least 200 donors from 20 or more states and/or territories.

Meeting these criteria was straightforward for most of the candidates, as by the end of July, seven (including Trump) had enough qualifying polls and donors to make the stage. Lagging behind, Pence became the eighth eligible contender when his campaign announced on Aug. 7 that he brought in enough unique donors. Hutchinson had enough surveys in hand by late July, but he only announced on Sunday that he had reached the 40,000 donor mark, coming in just under the deadline.

But there was last-minute drama, as businessman Perry Johnson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez each said they had qualified, only for the RNC to leave them off its final list of participants. Johnson in particular may have a bone to pick, as he claimed that the RNC initially indicated that he had enough polls, and our analysis suggests he did, too. Larry Elder, who along with Johnson hasn’t met FiveThirtyEight’s criteria for being considered a major candidate, also claimed he had made it,> but one of the polls he cited did not have a large enough sample size to meet the RNC’s criteria. Johnson and Elder announced yesterday that they were suing the RNC. Suarez, Johnson, Elder and Hurd all had enough donors to make the stage but, controversially or not, lacked the polls in the end.

-Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight

Aug 23, 6:38 PM EDT
Where the abortion issue stands ahead of the debate

After winning a 50-year fight to get Roe v. Wade overruled last year, the Republican Party faces tough questions on abortion access.

Should abortion be banned at conception or later? What exceptions should be allowed — and if there are exceptions, how should that be enforced? Which medical emergencies would qualify? And should these decisions be made at the federal or state level?

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

Aug 23, 6:37 PM EDT
Trump won’t be at the GOP debate. Will it matter?

Trump is snubbing the Republican National Committee and Fox News by counterprogramming the first GOP primary debate with an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Without the de facto GOP leader on stage, strategists are wondering how much the debate can shake up the race.

“For the trajectory of the entire primary, I don’t think it matters that he’s not there. I mean, probably no one remembers this debate after the next debate,” said GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, a presidential campaign veteran.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Aug 23, 6:37 PM EDT
What to watch for in 1st Republican primary debate

As several of the 2024 Republican presidential candidates are set to square off for the first time tonight, here are seven things to watch for during the debate.

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.