Washington – Nearly all the U.S. Republican presidential candidates will take the stage at CBS News’ televised debate on Saturday, with Donald Trump flanked by rivals Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, the network said.
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It will be the ninth televised debate for Republican candidates seeking to represent the party in the November presidential election amid a thinning field that once had more than a dozen candidates.
The debate in Greenville, South Carolina, comes as the remaining seven candidates aim to gain momentum heading into the state’s primary on Feb. 20.
CBS said front-runner Trump will take center stage flanked by Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas, and Bush, a former governor of Florida, making for a potentially heated event between the three men who have had testy exchanges during the campaign.
Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore did not meet the network’s criteria to be included, according to the CBS announcement.