RNC FREES CANDIDATES TO ORGANIZE OWN DEBATES
Candidates had been restricted to sanctioned events
The Republican National Committee released the party’s presidential candidates Friday to organize their own debates next month before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, a shift in policy that could increase the number of campaign showdowns and allow the highest polling candidates to limit access to their rivals.
The decision for the moment ends the party’s role in moderating the selection process for primary debates: setting the frequency of events, the qualification criteria and the moderators. Candidates were previously barred from debating outside the sanctioned events, but they are now free to appear in joint appearances whenever they choose in whatever combination they prefer.
“We have no RNC debates scheduled in January and any debates currently scheduled are not affiliated with the RNC,” the Republican Committee on Presidential Debates said in a statement Friday. “It is now time for Republican primary voters to decide who will be our next President and candidates are free to use any forum or format to communicate to voters as they see fit.”
Some news organizations, which had been anticipating the shift, have volunteered to host future events for the Republican candidates. CNN announced two events Thursday for candidates that receive at least 10 percent support in three qualifying national or state polls, a category that would currently limit the meetings to just two candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.
Former President Donald Trump, the current polling leader, would also qualify, but he has called for an end to all nomination debates and declared that the party should anoint him the nominee before Republican voters cast any nominating votes.
Chris LaCivita, an adviser to Trump, welcomed the news of RNC’s retreat. “Republicans know and have demonstrated repeatedly who they want to talk on Crooked Joe Biden. No amount of fake news kiddie debates featuring has-beens auditioning for first place loser is going to change that,” he said. “We are, however, glad the RNC has decided to move on.”
ABC News and WMUR, a New Hampshire affiliate, announced another debate in that state next month, just days before the CNN debate. Qualification requirements will be announced later. St. Anselm College, outside Manchester, N.H., was announced as the location of both the CNN and ABC
News debates in that state.
Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library at St. Anselm College, said following the CNN announcement that the event with that network had not been “planned or booked.”
Chris Ager, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said Friday that he had not been contacted by CNN before or after the network made the announcement. “I believe it would be very difficult for any of the candidates to go with a CNN debate,” he said, adding, “The Republican electorate doesn’t have the best view of CNN. You never know, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
CNN spokesperson Anna Beth Jager said in a statement Friday afternoon that the network was “moving forward with our plans to host a debate in New Hampshire.” DeSantis, meanwhile, tweeted that he “looked forward” to the planned CNN debate in Iowa. The Haley campaign has not yet weighed in on what events she will attend.
The RNC has not said whether it will try to organize another nomination debate next year. The first four debates organized by the party this year have been fairly low-profile, given Trump’s refusal to participate in them.