Republican Party presidential debates

Since 1980, the Republican Party of the United States has held debates between candidates for the Republican nomination in presidential elections during the primary election season. Unlike debates between party-nominated candidates, which have been organized by the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates since 1988, debates between candidates for party nomination are organized by mass media outlets.

Party presidential debates are typically not held when an incumbent president is running for a second term. Although debates were held in advance of the 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries among challengers to incumbent president Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee did not participate in scheduling those debates nor did Trump attend any of those debates.