Republican National Committee votes to withdraw from presidential debate panel to ‘find new and better platforms’ after Trump claims there is ongoing anti-GOP bias
- The RNC passed a resolution requiring candidates to sign an agreement that would bar them from participating in sanctioned debates if they participated in ‘non-sanctioned’ debates
- RNC chairman McDaniel said the group would find ‘newer and better platforms for debate’
- She called the bipartisan debate commission ‘fucked’
- Trump pulled out of second debate in 2020 after it went virtual
- He has long railed against moderators, including former Fox moderator Chris Wallace
The National Republican Commission voted on Thursday to withdraw from participation in the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, calling the group “one-sided” and pledging to seek “better platforms”.
The unanimous vote echoed former President Donald Trump’s longstanding complaints about presidential debates held by the commission, which he accused in 2016 and 2020 of being biased against him.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, a Trump loyalist, called the Commission on Presidential Debates ‘biased’ and said the commission ‘has refused to enact simple, common-sense reforms to help ensure fair debates , including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.
She said debates “are an important part of the democratic process” and said the RNC is “committed to free and fair debate”.
The Republican National Commission has voted to withdraw from participating in the Commission on Presidential Debates, a group that former President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked
The vote comes after a series of moves by the RNC against the commission, including a June 2021 letter in which McDaniel expressed his “extreme disappointment” with the commission.
She said the commission made an “amateur mistake” during the Oct. 22 debate by installing plexiglass without informing the candidates, and that Trump noticed a potential glare problem “from his television experience. “.
She also complained in her previous letter that the commission changed an October 15 debate to a “virtual format.”
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows wrote in his book that Trump tested positive for COVID-19 three days before the first debate on Sept. 29, 2020. The committee made the next debate virtual after Trump’s hospitalization and treatment for the coronavirus. Trump tweeted that he tested positive on October 2, 2020.
McDaniel also complained that the first debate came after early voting had already begun in eight states, and said several board members made “derogatory” comments about Trump.
RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a Trump loyalist, pushed through the changes
President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, right, during the first presidential debate Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio
(LR) Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathy Shelton sit down before the public debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. Trump brought Clinton’s sex accusers to the 2016 debate against Hillary Clinton
The RNC is also seeking to pressure the party’s future candidate not to take part in any debate that is not sanctioned by the party – an outcome it is trying to achieve with a promise that candidates should sign.
“Any presidential primary candidate who does not agree in writing, or who participates in a debate that is not a sanctioned debate, will not be eligible to participate in any other sanctioned debates,” the statement reads. commitment, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
An RNC working group will make decisions on sanctions. These debates are vital for candidates seeking support during the primary process.
The bipartisan Presidential Debate Commission was created in 1987 to allow the two main parties to negotiate the terms and locations of the televised debates that have been held every four years for decades.
McDaniel called for “newer and better debate platforms” for future candidates.
