An additional Republican presidential primary debate will be held in mid-January, Fox Business Network announced Tuesday.
The added debate, scheduled for Jan. 14 in North Charleston, S.C., will take place 48 hours after President Obama’s annual State of the Union address and brings the total number of primary debates sanctioned by the Republican National Committee to 12.
Fox Business Network is slated to host the debate, marking the second time this election cycle the network has teamed up with the RNC for a primary season debate. The fourth GOP debate, hosted by FBN in mid-November, drew a record-breaking 13.5 million viewers to the network.
According to an internal RNC memo obtained by the Washington Examiner, the debate was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 16 in Lynchburg, Va. Further details about the moderators and debate criteria are expected to be released closer to the debate.
Some campaigns reacted to the news with displeasure, including that of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
“Typical – this is typical of the RNC,” Carson’s communications director Doug Watts told the Washington Examiner, from whom he first learned of the added debate.
“They said nothing to the campaigns. We haven’t heard a thing. We have not heard directly from them at all,” he noted. Watts later noted the RNC reached out to senior adviser Ed Brookover only an hour prior to FBN’s announcement.
Another top campaign staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, accused the RNC of pandering to the establishment.
“My opinion is that this is panic in reaction to the unintended consequences of their decision to try and narrow the debates to begin with,” he said.
“When they reduced the number of debates at the time, the thought was there would be an establishment leader. But now that the election’s been turned on its head, with [Donald] Trump and [Ted] Cruz leading, now the establishment is panicking,” he added.
The RNC did not return the Washington Examiner’s multiple requests for comment.
