C-SPAN GOP Forum Features Fourteen

The Trump-Fueled first GOP primary debate (Fox and Facebook Aug. 6) is getting a lot of attention, but C-SPAN will have 14 of the 17 in a candidate forum Monday night (Aug. 3).

“This event is significant because it will afford the public its first opportunity to hear the Republican presidential candidates answer questions in one setting,” said C-SPAN politics executive producer Steve Scully in a statement.

The Voters First Forum will be a three-hour TV event featuring 14 of the 17 declared candidates--Fox/Facebook have the top 10 for a debate, and a forum for the rest leading into the debate.

TV coverage begins at 6:30, the forum starts at 7 p.m. NYT from St. Anselm’s College in Manchester and is co-sponsored by the Union Leader and various other media outlets.

The candidates will answer two rounds of questions apiece and get a closing statement.

Scheduled to appear are Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker.

That list is most notable for the absence of what would have been a big TV draw: Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, who declined to participate, first citing the Union Leader's less-than-flattering editorial page treatment of the mogul turned reality TV star turned legitimate presidential contender, then later saying he did not expect to get the paper's endorsement and that there were too many candidates at the event, according to the paper. http://www.multichannel.com/news/programming/hearst-carry-c-span-gop-for...

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.