NewsNation to host next GOP debate; Megyn Kelly, Elizabeth Vargas to moderate 

NewsNation, the cable news channel launched in 2021 by Nexstar Media Group, will host the fourth Republican presidential primary debate next month in Alabama, the network announced Thursday.

The Dec. 6 debate will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on NewsNation and be simulcast in the Eastern and Central time zones on Nexstar’s broadcast television network, The CW.  

The debate will have three moderators, including Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and “Today” show host who has started a popular podcast since leaving the television business.

Elizabeth Vargas, who anchors a 6 p.m. newscast on NewsNation, and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the conservative website The Washington Free Beacon, will also serve as moderators.

Kelly has moderated five Republican primary debates during her career in the media, including the first GOP primary debate of the 2016 election cycle while she was at Fox, which was watched by a record 24 million viewers.

During that debate, Kelly famously clashed with former President Trump after she asked him about previous offensive comments he had made about women.  

A day after the 2016 debate, Trump made headlines by saying he could see “blood coming out of her eyes … blood coming out of her wherever,” as Kelly questioned him. 

Kelly said on a recent episode of her podcast any ill will between herself and the former president is “water under the bridge.”  

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024 by a wide margin, has so far not participated in any of the first three primary debates, which were hosted by Fox News, Fox Business Network and NBC, respectively, citing his large lead in the polls.  

A senior adviser to Trump said following a Wednesday rally that the former president does not intend to participate in the fourth debate.  

Last week, the Republican National Committee upped its qualification criteria for candidates aiming to get on the debate stage in Tuscaloosa.  

Candidates will be required to poll at 6 percent or higher in two national polls, or at 6 percent in one early state poll from two separate “carve out” states — listed as Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — to make the debate stage.  

NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.

–Updated at 11:18 a.m.