Politics

RNC Throws In Towel On Debates, Allowing CNN And ABC To Host

(Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Reagan Reese White House Correspondent
Font Size:

The Republican National Committee (RNC) voted Friday to pause its participation in 2024 presidential primary debates, allowing CNN and ABC News to host forums in January, according to Politico.

ABC News and CNN announced Thursday that they planned to host the 2024 Republican presidential candidates for debates in January. CNN noted at the time of its announcement that it expected the RNC to lift its rule that barred the White House hopefuls from participating in non-RNC-sanctioned debates such as its own.

Decided by a 16-member internal body, the RNC’s announcement allows networks, such as ABC and CNN who already have planned debates, to host debates independently of the GOP, Politico reported.

“We have no RNC debates scheduled in January and any debates currently scheduled are not affiliated with the RNC,” the RNC debates committee said in a statement. “It is now time for Republican primary voters to decide who will be our next President and candidates are free to use any forum or format to communicate to voters as they see fit.”

CNN is set to hold two debates with one on Jan. 10 at Drake University in Iowa and its second Jan. 21 at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. After CNN announced its New Hampshire debate would take place at St. Anselm College, the institution reportedly said it was not aware of such a partnership.

“I have no idea about anything with any other network,” Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm, told the Associated Press, referring to the debate with CNN.

“We can’t speak to any miscommunication within Saint Anselm, but we are moving forward with our plans to host a debate in New Hampshire on January 21,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller. 

While the institution reportedly refuted CNN’s announcement, ABC News announced Thursday that it will host a debate on Jan. 18 at St. Anselm College.

Workers prepare to install a sign outside of the Frank Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on December 05, 2023, ahead of the fourth Republican Presidential debate. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers prepare to install a sign outside of the Frank Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on December 05, 2023, ahead of the fourth Republican Presidential debate.  (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

In November, the RNC’s non-sanctioned debate rule came into play. After candidates were invited to the “Thanksgiving Family Forum” in Iowa, the RNC threatened the White House hopefuls in a letter, warning that if they participate, they will be unable to attend future RNC debates. Following the controversy, the RNC later decided to allow candidates to participate, deeming the “Thanksgiving Family Forum” not a debate.

For the first two primary debates, the RNC chose Fox News and Fox Business, while Young America’s Foundation (YAF), the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Univision were the partners for the forum. Univision anchor Ilia Calderón, Fox Business host Stuart Varney and Fox News host Dana Perino moderated the second debate. Calderón asked about racism and discrimination against LGBT people, questions that drew criticism for not asking about topics that are important to Republican voters.

Conservative outlets outside of the mainstream media told the Daily Caller after the second debate that they felt overlooked and frustrated. The RNC and the chairman of its Temporary Committee on Presidential Debates, David Bossie, had previously promised in 2022 that the 2024 presidential primary debates would be used to raise conservative media up and wouldn’t go to the “same old media outlets.”

RNC chose NBC News, alongside Salem Radio, the Republican Jewish Coalition and Rumble. The moderators for the third forum included NBC’s own Lester Holt, Kristen Welker and Salem Radio News’ Hugh Hewitt. (RELATED: Barring A Few Fiery Moments, RNC’s Third ‘Debate’ Looked More Like A TED Talk)

The fourth debate went to Washington Free Beacon, the Megyn Kelly Show and News Nation.

“We have held four successful debates across the country with the most conservative partners in the history of a Republican primary,” the RNC debates committee said in a statement.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel