Pence qualifies for first Republican presidential debate, campaign says

Former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the first Republican presidential primary debate, which will be held later this month in Wisconsin, his campaign announced Monday. 

Pence has received donations from 40,000 individual donors and his campaign on Monday filed the 2024 GOP presidential hopeful’s fundraising numbers with the Republican National Committee for verification, becoming the first campaign to do so, according to Fox News. 

Pence had already cracked the RNC’s polling threshold requiring GOP presidential candidates to have at least 1% support in national polls in order to take the stage in Milwaukee, Wisc., on Aug. 23. 

“Mike Pence made quick and easy work of the donor threshold, and he’s looking forward to a substantive debate about the issues important to the American people. Hopefully, former President Trump has the courage to show up,” Pence campaign spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement to Fox News. 

The Pence campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. 

The former vice president is the eighth 2024 GOP contender to qualify for the first primary debate, according to Politico, joining former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. 

Pence’s campaign noted that it has also exceeded the RNC’s requirement that debaters have   200 or more donors in at least 20 states, reporting that it has met the threshold in 40 states, according to Fox News. 

The RNC is expected to make the qualifying criteria for the second GOP debate in September more stringent. 

A source familiar with the plans told The Post that the RNC will demand that candidates hit a 50,000 unique donor threshold and garner at least 3% support in select polling. 

A RealClearPolitics average of national polls shows Pence receiving 5.1% support. 

The 64-year-old former vice president qualified for the August showdown despite lackluster second-quarter fundraising numbers released last month, which showed his campaign raising a mere $1.2 million from donors in the three weeks since launching his White House bid. 

It’s unclear if Pence will be on stage in Milwaukee with his former boss, Trump, who has said he is considering skipping the debate, citing his massive lead in the polls. 

Pence, who says he refused Trump’s orders to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory, cooperated with special counsel Jack Smith during his probe of the 45th president’s actions in the aftermath of the race. 

Last week, Smith charged Trump with four counts — conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights – related to the investigation. 

“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence said in a statement after the special counsel’s indictment was released.