The moderators for CNBC’s Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday plan to discuss a topic that has not previously been discussed in the the first two debates.
“Somebody emailed me the other day and said there had been 441 questions in the presidential debates so far, and not one of them was about the debt ceiling,” Becky Quick, one of the moderators, told the New York Times in a recent interview.
The Times reported Tuesday that Quick double-checked transcripts from the two debates, one held in August and the other in September, and couldn’t find any mention of the debt ceiling.
“This is our time,” Quick said.
The CNBC debate has billed itself as one that will focus on “pocketbook issues,” emphasizing “job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and the health of our national economy.”
Though the debt ceiling has not been discussed in the official debates, some of the candidates have spoken on the issue, in light of some Republicans in Congress threatening to oppose raising it before a debt deadline hits on Nov. 3.
Ben Carson, currently leading some national polls and in early primary state Iowa, has said if he were president, he would not sign any bills that raise the debt ceiling, though many experts say that would shock global economic markets.
Donald Trump, also leading many national polls and in New Hampshire, has similarly said the debt ceiling is “worth the fight” if Republican can get Democrats to agree to spending cuts.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he would attempt to block a current bill that entirely removes the debt ceiling until 2017.
The CNBC debate takes place Wednesday night in Boulder, Colo.
