It was about a year ago when the Republican National Committee announced a rather dramatic shift in how the party would approach presidential debates going forward. According to the RNC’s plan, the party’s presidential candidates will commit in writing to only participating in RNC-approved debates — and the party said it would no longer sanction events hosted and organized by the independent Commission on Presidential Debates.
The rationale was difficult to take seriously — the RNC and Donald Trump accused the non-partisan commission of “bias,” reality notwithstanding — but the move opened the door to a new era in which general election presidential debates, a modern staple of the political process, no longer occur.
But at least the Republican National Committee will still hold important presidential primary debates, right? According to the party, yes. According to the party’s likely 2024 nominee, maybe not.
Two weeks ago, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced that the first Republican debate of the 2024 cycle would be held in Milwaukee and aired on Fox News in August. Last week, she added to the schedule, announcing that the party’s second debate would be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Donald Trump used his social media platform to suggest he’s reluctant to show up at either event. The former president’s missive, published midday yesterday, read in part:
“I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them. When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the ‘questions,’ why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?”
He added that Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan helps lead the Reagan Library board, and since Trump believes the newspaper is out to get him, he concluded his written message, “NO!”
Part of…
Read the full article here