Baier, MacCallum to moderate first 2024 Republican presidential debate for Fox News

Fox News has tapped anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum to co-moderate the first Republican presidential primary debate this summer.

The debate, set for Aug. 23, will be held in prime-time at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, with the network providing special coverage before and after the event.

Baier and MacCallum have been staples of Fox’s political coverage during the last several election cycles and major political events, most recently co-anchoring special programming for President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address.

The Republican National Committee earlier this month released criteria that will be used for candidates to qualify for the debate stage, which included a promise to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee. 

Former President Trump, whom most polls show as the favorite to claim the GOP nomination, has not committed to participating in the August debate.

Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Fox News over its coverage of him and his leading GOP rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, sat this week for an extensive interview with Baier.

During the first portion of that interview, which aired Monday, the former president sparred with the anchor for refuting his claims about the 2020 election and defended his alleged mishandling of classified documents, which sparked a federal investigation and indictment.

A judge in Florida on Tuesday set an initial Aug. 14 trial date in Trump’s classified documents case, just over one week before the first GOP debate.