Fox News Channel announced today that it will host the seventh Republican primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 28, just days ahead of the nation's first state caucuses. Network hosts Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace will moderate the debate, putting Kelly and Republican front-runner Donald Trump in front of one another on camera for the first time since their clashes following the first Fox News debate in August. That debate drew a cable news record audience of 24 million viewers, ABC News pointed out.
In an interview with CNN following the first debate, Trump said Kelly had "blood coming out of her wherever" after he was unhappy with her questions about him making sexist comments about women, referring to them as "fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals." Trump responded by tweeting: "So many 'politically correct' fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!" The back-and-forth also drew the ire of top Fox News executive Roger Ailes, although that has since been worked out, reported TPM.
The debate announcement did not include any details about what criteria the network would use for determining which candidates qualify to make the stage, or even whether or not there would be an undercard debate in addition to a main debate. A spokesman for Fox News told USA Today that the criteria will be announced closer to the event.
January's debates will have a smaller crop of candidates than the August Fox News debate, which had 17 candidates. As HNGN previously reported, Sen. Lindsey Graham became the latest Republican to drop out of the race for the White House, leaving 13 major candidates.
