Republican National Committee Debates Without Trump Lack Meaning, Members Say
Several members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) have acknowledged that the recent debates with GOP presidential candidates are falling flat without the presence of former President Donald Trump, who remains the most popular Republican candidate by a wide margin.
Despite polling well above the rest of the field by at least 40 percentage points, Trump has chosen not to attend the first two debates hosted by Fox News. He has justified his absence by citing his high poll numbers and his status as a former president. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, on the other hand, has emphasized the importance of candidates pledging their support to the eventual GOP nominee.
“After the failure of the first debate, there should have been some severe introspection into what’s going on here. I think the only way you salvage it is if you get the front-runner there. Plan a debate where you get the front-runner to agree to it,” Tyler Bowyer, a national RNC committeeman from Arizona, told Politico this week.
Another member from Virginia suggested that the RNC’s leadership is turning a blind eye to reality.
“You can’t put your head in the sand and pretend these debates are going to result in someone other than Donald Trump getting the nomination,” said Patti Lyman, the RNC’s national committeewoman in Virginia, describing the debates as both “embarrassing” and “reflecting poorly on our party.”
Trump himself has called for an end to the debates, arguing that they undermine support for the eventual Republican nominee in 2024. His campaign recently indicated that he will not participate in any future debates.
Speaking to the Daily Caller, Trump stated that the RNC “has to stop the debates” as they are “bad for the Republican Party.” His campaign emphasized the need for the RNC to prioritize election integrity in 2024.
Former President Donald Trump boards his private airplane, also known as Trump Force One, as he departs Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Aug. 24, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The third debate is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami. While the first debate attracted over 12 million viewers on Fox News, the second debate on Fox Business saw a 25 percent drop, with around 9.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings.
Louis Gurvich, the head of the Republican Party of Louisiana, criticized the GOP debates for demeaning the participating candidates. Roger Villere, Louisiana’s national committeeman, echoed this sentiment, stating that a debate without the main participant, referring to Trump, serves little purpose.
However, at least one RNC member believes the debates should continue.
Georgia’s national committeeman, Jason Thompson, acknowledged Trump’s lead but emphasized the importance of following the RNC’s rules. “This is a process we have to go through regardless. We have primaries. We aren’t anointing people,” he said.
“If the former president doesn’t want to come, that’s on him,” added Oscar Brock, the national committeeman from Tennessee. “But we have every right to continue these and promote other options. He may have 40 percent of the vote, but he doesn’t have 100 percent.”
After the first two debates, none of the other GOP presidential candidates have managed to gain significant traction against President Trump.
A recent aggregate of polls from RealClearPolitics as of Friday shows that President Trump holds approximately 58 percent of the vote. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has 12.5 percent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has 7.5 percent, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has 5.6 percent. Haley’s numbers have seen a slight increase in recent weeks, but the other candidates’ numbers remain relatively stagnant.
During the first debate, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released his interview with President Trump on X, formerly Twitter. In the second debate, the former president addressed striking autoworkers in Michigan, criticizing President Joe Biden and urging union members to endorse him for president.
However, Trump’s absence during the debates did not go unnoticed, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accusing him of “ducking” the other candidates. “You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on this stage and defending your record. You’re ducking these things,” Mr. Christie rhetorically addressed President Trump.
Meanwhile, some committee members have suggested that changes to the GOP debates may be necessary. Criticisms have been raised regarding the format of the first two debates and the moderators’ questions for the candidates.
“It would be nice to see that they were much more orderly,” said Steve Scheffler, the national committeeman from Iowa. “I don’t know what the solution is. Certainly there need to be some improvements.”
How can the RNC address concerns about the absence of Donald Trump from the debates and ensure their meaningful value for the party and its supporters?
To hold these debates and allow the candidates to showcase their ideas and qualifications. It’s important for Republican voters to have all the information they need to make an informed decision.”
The absence of Donald Trump from the recent Republican National Committee (RNC) debates has sparked a debate within the party itself. Several RNC members have expressed their concerns about the lack of meaning and impact these debates have without the presence of the former President, who remains the most popular Republican candidate by a significant margin.
Despite consistently polling well above the rest of the field, Trump has chosen not to attend the first two debates hosted by Fox News. He has justified his absence by citing his high poll numbers and his status as a former president. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, on the other hand, has emphasized the importance of candidates pledging their support to the eventual GOP nominee.
The dissatisfaction among RNC members was evident in the comments made by Tyler Bowyer, a national RNC committeeman from Arizona. He criticized the failure of the first debate and emphasized the need to include the front-runner in order to salvage the future debates. Bowyer suggested planning a debate where the front-runner, Trump, agrees to participate.
Patti Lyman, the RNC’s national committeewoman in Virginia, echoed Bowyer’s sentiments. She criticized the RNC’s leadership for turning a blind eye to the reality that Trump is likely to secure the nomination. Lyman described the debates as embarrassing and reflecting poorly on the Republican Party.
Trump himself has called for an end to the debates, arguing that they undermine support for the eventual Republican nominee in 2024. His campaign has indicated that he will not participate in any future debates. In a statement to the Daily Caller, Trump highlighted the need for the RNC to prioritize election integrity in 2024 and suggested that the debates are detrimental to the party.
The upcoming third debate, scheduled for November 8 in Miami, will be a crucial opportunity for the RNC to address these concerns and reestablish the significance of the debates. The viewership for the first debate exceeded 12 million on Fox News, but the second debate on Fox Business saw a significant drop of 25 percent, with around 9.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings.
Louis Gurvich, the head of the Republican Party of Louisiana, criticized the GOP debates for demeaning the participating candidates. Roger Villere, Louisiana’s national committeeman, echoed this sentiment, arguing that a debate without the main participant, referring to Trump, serves little purpose.
However, Georgia’s national committeeman, Jason Thompson, acknowledged Trump’s lead but stressed the importance of following the RNC’s rules. Thompson believes that the debates should continue, regardless of Trump’s decision to participate. He stated, “This is a process we have to go through regardless. We have primaries. We aren’t anointing people.”
Oscar Brock, the national committeeman from Tennessee, also expressed support for the continuation of the debates. He asserted that while the former president has every right to abstain from participating, the RNC has the right to hold these debates and provide Republican voters with the necessary information to make informed decisions.
As the debates continue, it remains to be seen how the RNC will address the concerns raised by its members and ensure that the discussions hold meaningful value for the party and its supporters. The future of the Republican Party may depend on finding a balance between
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