As CNN announced on Thursday afternoon, the network will be hosting two GOP presidential primary debates next month — one in Iowa and one in New Hampshire — to coincide with the first two early-state contests of 2024. Notably, however, these debates are not sanctioned nor organized by the Republican National Committee as the previous primary debates in Tuscaloosa, Miami, Simi Valley, and Milwaukee were.
Wisely, the RNC did not include CNN as a partner in any of the debates it organized this cycle — but now that the RNC-sanctioned debates are over, the national party is expected to "release candidates from its requirement that prevents them from participating in non-RNC-sanctioned debates," according to CNN which is banking on the rule change that would also allow other networks to organize unofficial debates of their own.
Some of the 2024 candidates, including Vivek Ramaswamy, were quite critical of the RNC's choice in debate moderators, especially the third debate in Miami. "Think about who's moderating this debate," Ramaswamy said in his opening statement from the debate stage. "This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk" he said of the moderators, before attacking Kristen Welker of NBC News as part of "the corrupt media establishment."
Yet Ramaswamy has agreed to participate in a CNN Town Hall moderated by the network's Abby Phillip in Iowa next week at Grand View University. Does he not believe CNN is also part of the "corrupt media establishment" that shouldn't be allowed to moderate Republican debates or question GOP presidential candidates? And does that mean Ramaswamy will also participate in the CNN-hosted debates if he qualifies?
Here are CNN's requirements to participate in its first primary debate in Iowa:
• Fulfill the requirements outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States.
• File a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
• Achieve at least 10% (without rounding) in three separate national and/or Iowa polls of Republican caucusgoers or primary voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting. One of the three qualifying polls must be an approved poll of Iowa likely Republican caucusgoers.
• Agree to accept the rules and format of the debate.
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Already, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he'll take CNN's stage in Iowa, and presumably Ramaswamy and Haley won't let him have a forum unchallenged.
Looking forward to debating in Iowa! https://t.co/qeCvrTLwqy
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
But the question is, for all the outrage from candidates and Republican voters about the moderators and hosts of official debates sanctioned by the RNC, why would candidates participate in a CNN-organized and -hosted debate with no oversight from the RNC?
The RNC argued that getting Republican debates in front of as many Americans as possible meant working with some outlets that have a track record of attacking conservatives. But on the whole, the official RNC primary debates were overwhelmingly hosted and moderated by fair outlets and conservative allies. Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Rumble, Young America's Foundation, Salem Media Group, Republican Jewish Coalition, the Megyn Kelly Show, NewsNation, and the Washington Free Beacon far outweighed the presence of Univision and NBC News.
This is a case of being unable to have things both ways: either having GOP primary candidates in front of mainstream outlets and their hosts is a bad thing that only leads to damage for the eventual nominee or it's a worthwhile exercise in reaching the largest possible audiences with lively debate of conservative policies among Republican candidates. If McDaniel was wrong to put GOP candidates in front of NBC News moderators, then the Republican candidates are wrong to put themselves in front of CNN moderators.
As seems evidenced by the apparent Republican participation in the CNN debates set to be held in Iowa and New Hampshire, squaring off in front of a mainstream or liberal audience to try and appeal to independent voters who consume news from them and Democrats who are dismayed about Joe Biden is a good idea, however risky — it's just one that the RNC wasn't given credit for when it chose NBC News to moderate along with Salem's Hugh Hewitt and Univision to moderate beside Fox's Dana Perino and Stu Varney.
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