Entrepreneur Perry Johnson, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, told Newsmax on Friday that he will meet the requirements for the first GOP debate later this month.
Johnson said on “Wake Up America” in an interview, “I really expect to be on that debate stage” on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, for which candidates are required to have at least 1% support in either three national polls or two national polls and two state polls of either Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.
They are also required to have at least 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors in more than 20 different states or U.S. territories.
“Another poll just came in this morning, another qualifying poll,” Johnson said, referring to a national poll released by Victory Insights on Friday that showed him with 1.1% of the vote. “So that means that I have two that will be officially recognized, I think, by Politico. We'll see what Politico says."
He said: “I believe I may already have three because, keep in mind that we have the Trafalgar, then we have this Victory [poll], we had the [Big Village’s Online] Caravan poll … 2022. And I was at 1.6% in that. I don't know how they can exclude it. … I think AP approved it, and Politico didn’t. But if that is the case, I would already have three qualifying polls. I do have 60,000 donors, so I met that requirement.”
Johnson added, “I really expect to be on that debate stage.”
When asked if he will drop out of the race if he fails to qualify for the first or second debates, Johnson said, “I will make the debate stage.” He added: “What would you do, for example, if you had a heart attack now? Would you continue? The bottom line is, the likelihood of not making the debate stage is exceedingly remote now.”
And when asked about how Republican candidates can criticize former President Donald Trump without alienating his supporters, Johnson said, “I’m not going to spend my time beating up on somebody that was beaten up for more years than any president in history over something that he didn’t do.”
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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