Just as he promised, former and potentially future President Donald Trump skipped out on the first and second RNC primary debates held in August and September. The first was held in Milwaukee, the site of next July's RNC convention, while the second also had its own special connection, as it took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Those first few debates were a mess, though, especially the second one. Trump remains the frontrunner. Another debate is scheduled for November 8 in Miami, and Trump's latest demand is doing more than suggest he won't be participating.
On Monday night, the Trump campaign emailed a statement from Senior Advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita urging the RNC to cancel future debates.
"The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election," the statement read, going on to make a steep charge. "Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election."
“The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election.
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) October 3, 2023
Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel… pic.twitter.com/yNKvku6HKP
Trump remains the frontrunner. The RealClearPolitics (RCP) averages currently show him with a spread of +42.8, with 56.5 percent support. In a distant second place is Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis, with his 13.7 percent.
These advisors aren't the only ones with such commentary about the debates. As Leah highlighted, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) told Fox News' Laura Ingraham after that second debate that after talking with pollster Matt Towery, the "race is over."
What Gingrich had said last week actually is quite similar to what this more recent statement that the advisors put out.
"Donald Trump will be the nominee, they might as well quit having the various debates because they don’t work, they’re not helping anybody, and I think that’s where we are. I think Trump will be the nominee and the question now for everybody is do you want to see Joe Biden reelected or do you want to help Donald Trump? There’s no middle ground here, I don’t think," Gingrich said, offering that the RNC should "cancel the future debates and say, 'look, we recognize the objective fact that Trump will be the nominee. We want to work with him.'"
Again, the debates were a mess. As Matt wrote in the early hours of Thursday morning, "The Second GOP Debate Was a Mess...and It Exposed a Glaring Issue Within the Republican Party." In addition to emphasizing Trump's frontrunner status, Matt had this warning:
But a disturbing quality was also exposed: we have no depth on the presidential stage. We’ve discussed at length how Joe Biden and the 2020 election showed that Democrats face serious obstacles to finding quality presidential candidates. That remains an issue, but it also seems like the GOP might face the same problems heading into 2024 and beyond. Who comes after Trump?
The first debate was hosted by Fox News, and the second by Fox Business along with Univision. Trump had pointed out he was so far ahead in the polls as his reason to not debate, but he also had concerns with the network.
"Republican debate: Why are moderators repeating Democratic talking points?," read Madeline Fry Schultz's headline for the Washington Examiner the following morning.
The second debate went so particularly bad that over at our sister site of PJ Media, Stephen Kruiser suggested that this was all part of Trump's plan. As he wrote:
Once again, a GOP primary debate was designed to be an ongoing game of “Gotcha!” These dog-and-pony shows have never been designed to highlight differences between the candidates regarding issues that matter to Republican voters, and they seem to be getting worse. The questions are awful, and many seem as if they were scripted by the DNC, even when Fox News hosts the debate.
Fox News has historically been awful at these things. It’s as if the FNC moderators are determined to pretend to be MSNBC Lite in an effort to prove that they don’t actually lean right.
As for the FNC cohost — Univision had ZERO business being at a Republican primary debate. There was absolutely nothing to be gained by including a hostile network.
...
The big question then is: Why is the GOP still letting this crap happen?
Let’s look at that. This is all GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s doing. The woman with perhaps the worst track record of any GOP chair in history. The party has hemorrhaged governorships and seats in Congress since she’s been in charge.
Who was her most prominent supporter when she was running for a fourth term after presiding over three elections that were unmitigated disasters for the GOP?
Oh yeah, Donald Trump.
At this point, I’m beginning to think that this is all by design. Trump and McDaniel struck a deal: he’d help her reelection bid; she’d set up some of the worst debates in GOP primary history and he’d avoid them. Yes, I believe that he would be opting out even if he didn’t have a big lead in the polls.
This way, the other candidates can endure the pontificating and inane questions from the moderators, none of which will make them look good, and Trump can hit the tanning bed, unscathed.
As conspiracy theories go, this one has merit.
Trump isn't the only one whose campaign has made demands about the debate, though. Earlier on Tuesday, ABC News reported that creates another problem for the RNC, candidates not abiding by the rules. Trump didn't agree to participate in the RNC debates, but the other candidates who qualified did.
The DeSantis campaign wants heightened polling thresholds, "sources familiar with DeSantis' campaign strategy told ABC News." Vivek 2024 CEO Ben Yoho also sent a letter asking that the debate be limited to the top polling candidates besides Trump.
The outlet did not receive a comment from the RNC, though there's this noteworthy point included suggesting changes won't happen. "The RNC did not respond to ABC News' request for comment for this story, but a source familiar with planning said the committee will not entertain various criticisms and challenges from Republican candidates," the ABC News report mentioned.
As Leah reported last month at the time the criteria was announced, polling thresholds include 4 percent support in two national surveys or 4 percent in an early state poll from two separate states, as well as having at least 70,000 unique donors with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20 or more states.
The Iowa Republican Caucus, the first primary voting contest in the country, takes place on January 15, 2024, still three and a half months away. As we covered last week, the results of a CBS News poll showed that some Iowa caucus goers are still undecided.
RCP averages also show that Trump is currently up with a spread of +1.2 against President Joe Biden, with 45.3 percent support to Biden's 44.1 percent.