Republican candidates debate underway

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The eight Republican candidates expected to debate Wednesday night. Top row from left, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Bottom row from left, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Associated Press

Republican candidates are set to appear Wednesday night in Milwaukee for the first GOP debate leading up to the 2024 presidential election. Fox News is hosting the debate, also streaming live on Rumble. The current frontrunner in polls among Republican voters is former President Donald Trump, who will not participate. He has said he will surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Ga., on Thursday, where county prosecutors charged him with illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Are any other candidates going to be missing? It was uncertain earlier on Wednesday whether North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum could participate after he injured himself on Tuesday night while playing basketball. He posted a photo to the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, of himself on crutches saying, “I’m in.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Erick Erickson’s preview analysis of the debate on The World and Everything in It podcast.