Rumble gets boost with first two GOP presidential debates

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Wednesday that Rumble will be the “exclusive RNC livestream provider and the RNC’s exclusive online home” for the Sept. 27 debate. Fox Business will host the debate.

 

Rumble’s exclusive livestream status for the first debate, on Aug. 23, was announced earlier this year. That debate will be televised on Fox News.

 

McDaniel said in the April announcement, “[A]s 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.”

 

A Pew Research Center study conducted in May 2022 found that 20 percent of U.S. adults had heard of Rumble, with 2 percent saying they regularly get news on the platform. Among those who regularly get news on the platform, 76 percent identified as Republican or Republican-leaning.

 

Rumble Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski said in April that the platform’s mission is “to protect free speech” and that it “saw record traffic and user engagement during the 2022 midterms.”

 

Eight candidates have qualified for the first GOP debate: former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

 

Background reading: Learn more about Rumble’s growth and its position within what The Hill’s Rebecca Klar called the “right-wing online ecosystem”