Grab the popcorn and gird your loins, Presidential Debate Season is drawing nigh, folks. On Wednesday, Fox News Channel announced that it would be hosting the first GOP presidential primary debate for the 2024 election in August. The debate will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (also the announced site of the RNC 2024 Convention).

And in a nod to alternative media, for the first time ever, the debate will also be livestreamed on Rumble. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel sat with the hosts of Fox and Friends Wednesday morning to discuss the announcement.

McDaniel: We are going to host the very first debate with Fox News — it will be a Fox News Republican primary debate….We’re also going to partner with some pretty exciting partners — for the first time ever, we’re going to livestream on Rumble. We’re getting away from Big Tech — YouTube’s owned by Google — we’re going to have an RNC channel on Rumble. And then the Young America’s Foundation, which is run by Scott Walker, to really reach out to young voters. They’re based in Wisconsin, so they’re going to be a partner as well.

Steve Doocy: Well that’s interesting because we’ve heard over the last couple of days, that the White House is going to bring in a whole bunch of influencers, using TikTok and all the platforms, because they know a lot of young people are not engaged in the political process, and, you know what? If an influencer is a salesperson, why not have them be on your side?

Asked whether she anticipated there being one or two debate stages, McDaniel said:

We’ll put the criteria out soon. We don’t know how many candidates there’s going to be so that will dictate whether there’s one or two stages. Right now I don’t see there being two stages but I could be wrong on that. The field’s forming later than usual.

Rumble announced the partnership on its platform as well, emphasizing its commitment to free speech and its role as an alternative to Big Tech:

LONGBOAT KEY, Fla.; Apr. 12, 2023 – Rumble, the video-sharing platform (NASDAQ: RUM), announced today that it has entered a partnership with the Republican National Committee (RNC) to be the exclusive live stream provider for the first debate of the Republican presidential primaries. The debate will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August 2023, and will be hosted and broadcast on cable television by Fox News and the Young America’s Foundation. As the RNC’s digital live stream partner, Rumble will feature the debate on the platform’s homepage and make it available for viewers across the country on the RNC’s Rumble channel.

“I am so excited to announce that Rumble will be the RNC’s official streaming partner for the first Republican primary debate,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. “This is a big step for our party and country, as Republican leaders we must continue to hold Big Tech accountable for their biases and silencing of conservatives. People deserve a fair, unbiased platform and that’s exactly what this partnership will provide – an opportunity for voters to watch the next President of the United States on the Republican debate stage on Rumble.”

The exact date of the debate has not yet been announced, but the event is timed to coincide with the RNC’s summer meeting, and August will be here before we know it!