The Republican National Committee voted on a strategy on Friday to try to prevent Republican presidential candidates from participating in 2016 primary debates with CNN and NBC.
In an unanimous vote at the committee’s summer meeting in Boston, the committee vowed to not partner with CNN and NBC for debates if they don’t drop their planned productions on potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, which they call “little more than extended commercials.”
NBC Entertainment says it plans to produce a miniseries on the former secretary of state. CNN has announced plans to produce a documentary on Clinton.
Here is the resolution language adopted by the RNC:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF MEDIA OBJECTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AND OF AN ORDERLY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE PROCESS
WHEREAS, former Secretary Hillary Clinton is likely to run for President in 2016, and CNN and NBC have both announced programming that amounts to little more than extended commercials promoting former Secretary Clinton; and
WHEREAS, these programming decisions are an attempt to show political favoritism and put a thumb on the scales for the next presidential election; and
WHEREAS, airing this programming will jeopardize will the credibility of CNN and NBC as supposedly unbiased news networks and undermine the perceived objectivity of the coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign by these networks; and
WHEREAS, Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, contributed the maximum amount to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign committee, contributed $25,000 to Obama’s 2012 Victory Fund, and this year contributed $10,000 to the Democratic National Committee; therefore be it –
RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee calls on CNN and NBC to cancel the airing of these political ads masked as unbiased entertainment; and, be it further
RESOLVED, that if CNN and NBC continue to move forward with this and other such programming, the Republican National Committee will neither partner with these networks in the 2016 presidential primary debates nor sanction any primary debates they sponsor, and, be it finally
RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee shall endeavor to bring more order to the primary debates and ensure a reasonable number of debates, appropriate moderators and debate partners are chosen, and that other issues pertaining to the general nature of such debates are addressed.