
Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will get equal time on Fox News after all.
After receiving backlash for hosting a town hall event with former President Donald Trump that will air on the same day and at the same time as the final GOP primary debate next Wednesday, Fox News announced it will host similar events with the former ambassador to the United Nations and Florida’s governor as well.
Fox News will host a town hall forum with Haley on Monday, Jan. 8, and follow that up with a similar event with DeSantis the next day. Both events will begin at 6 p.m. ET, will focus on issues facing women, and will be held in Des Moines, Iowa.
Those town halls will be held in the lead-up to the next GOP debate, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 9 p.m. ET in Des Moines. That debate will only feature Haley and DeSantis and will air on CNN.
Trump announced over the summer that he wouldn’t attend any GOP debate in the lead-up to the primary season, citing his huge lead in polls as his reason. Instead, he’s hosted individual events at the same time as the debates.
His plan next week is to attend a Fox News town hall event that will air at the same time the debate starts. This is being done, in a way, to try to draw attention away from the other GOP candidates and toward his campaign.
When information about Fox News’ town hall with Trump broke earlier this week, many people criticized the move, saying the conservative news outlet was allowing Trump to duck the debate, giving him extra individual air time, and doing a disservice to the other candidates in the process.
Bret Baier, who will co-host the Trump town hall, tried to calm people’s fears by posting on the social media platform X that Trump won’t have access to questions in advance.
The former President will not have the questions in advance or
any knowledge of the questions from me, Martha or from citizens in the crowd – who will be a mix of Iowa voters. And I can confirm that I approached the Trump campaign about doing a town hall in Iowa. They had turned… https://t.co/36Hwm9NtZe— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) January 2, 2024
Still, it’s no surprise that many people criticized Fox News’ decision to give Trump a huge individual platform at the same time their rival network is airing the GOP debate.
All three Fox News town halls and the GOP debate will be held the week before the Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15.