BREAKING: 2024 GOP Candidate Rushed To Hospital Ahead Of Debate

A terrible setback may prevent one Republican candidate from joining his rivals on the debate stage Wednesday night.

The Daily Caller Foundation reported Wednesday that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum was rushed to a Milwaukee-area hospital emergency room late Tuesday night after injuring his leg during a pickup basketball game. The governor’s campaign confirmed the details of his spill, with a spokesman adding that it’s “unclear if he will be able to stand at debate.”

News of the governor’s injury was first reported by CNN.

A late entrant into the field, Gov. Burgum met stringent qualifications for the debate stage by flexing his personal wealth, offering the chance for $20 gift cards to anyone who donated at least $1 to his campaign. To qualify for the first GOP debate on Wednesday, candidates needed donations from at least 40,000 national contributors and to rank above 1 percent in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll.

Burgum is serving in his second term and remains popular back home, garnering a respectable 56 percent approval rating among Roughrider State residents. Before taking office in 2016, he founded Great Plains Software in the 1980s which was later acquired by Microsoft for more than $1 billion. After parting ways with Microsoft in 2007, Burgum padded his fortune with ventures in real estate development.

If the North Dakota governor decides he is up for the debate, he will unlikely be able to stand for most or all of the two-hour appearance. The stage will feature eight candidates behind podiums, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.