Fox, Union Leader to host additional GOP candidate forums Aug. 6

Fox News will host an additional forum on Aug. 6 for GOP presidential candidates who do not qualify for the first Republican prime-time debate that night.

Fox News Executive Vice President Michael Clemente and the network stressed that it was part of a longstanding plan to add additional coverage for candidates who did not meet the criteria for the first debate, Politico reported.

But the format for the first debate, limited to the top 10 candidates in an average of recent public polls leading up to Aug. 6, had received criticism from some quarters, including from a group of New Hampshire Republicans on Wednesday who sent an open protest letter to Fox News and the Republican National Committee.

The New Hampshire Union Leader also announced Wednesday that it would be holding its own presidential forum Aug. 6, to be broadcast on C-SPAN. Union Leader Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid said the protest letter should be “a wake-up call to everyone in New Hampshire.”