In a statement, RNC chairwoman Rona McDaniel said the committee was “biased and refused to undertake simple and sensible reforms to help ensure fair debates, including holding pre-voting debates and electing moderators who have never been.” worked for candidates at the debate stage. “
The commission was formed in 1987 as a non-profit organization sponsored by both the Republican and Democratic parties, and has sponsored debates in all of the 1988 presidential election. The group’s co-chairs include former RNC chairman Frank Farenkopf.
CNN asked the committee for comment.
Thursday’s vote comes after months of signals from the RNC that it wants to suspend the commission. In June 2021, McDaniel sent a letter outlining several complaints about the commission’s practices, reflecting former President Donald Trump’s concerns about the 2020 debate.
And in January, McDaniel sent another letter threatening to “ban future Republicans from participating in CPD-sponsored debates” unless the committee changes its rules.
The RNC claims that it has not fully withdrawn its future nominees from the debate.
The commission provoked considerable anger from Trump during the 2020 campaign, with him and his campaign aides often criticizing selected moderators, the commission’s decision to hold a second debate in practice during the coronavirus pandemic, and the choice to mute each candidate’s microphone. during the last debate after the first race, there were significant interruptions by the then president.
Moderators were a central issue for Republicans in 2020 – especially the choice of Steve Scully of C-SPAN to moderate what would be the second race.
Trump’s campaign attacked Scully for working for Biden about four decades earlier, prompting the journalist to accidentally connect publicly on Twitter with Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-term communications director at the White House. When the outreach disappointed Republicans, Scully said he had been hacked, something he later admitted was not true. C-SPAN then put Scully on “administrative leave” for lying.
The commission eventually canceled the second debate after Trump refused to attend a virtual debate despite concerns about his diagnosis of Covid-19.
The RNC advocated a number of changes to the committee, including adopting deadlines for its board and banning members from making public comments on any candidates. Responding to Trump’s concerns, McDaniel also called for more influence over which journalists moderate general election debates, asking the commission for “transparent criteria for selecting moderators of debates that would disqualify people with obvious conflict.” of interests due to personal professional or party factors. “
This story has been updated with additional reports.
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