The committee was set up in 1987 as a non-profit Republican- and Democratic-funded non-profit organization and has supported debates in every presidential election since 1988. Co-chairs of the group include former RNC chairman Frank Fahrenkopf. CNN contacted the Commission for comment. Thursday’s vote comes after months of messages from the RNC that it was seeking a break from the commission. In June 2021, McDaniel sent a letter outlining various complaints about the commission’s practices, reflecting former President Donald Trump’s concerns about the 2020 debate. And in January, McDaniel sent another letter threatening to “prohibit future Republican candidates from participating in CPD-backed debates” unless the committee changed its rules. The RNC claims that it has not completely withdrawn its future candidates from the discussions. The committee angered Trump during the 2020 campaign, with him and his campaign aides often chanting at the selected moderators, the committee’s decision to hold the second debate essentially during the coronavirus pandemic, and the option to turn off each candidate’s microphone during the final discussion. since the first competition included significant breaks from the then President. Coordinators were a central issue for Republicans in 2020 – especially the choice of Steve Scully of C-SPAN to coordinate what would be the second competition. Trump’s campaign attacked Scully for working for Biden about four decades earlier, prompting the journalist to mistakenly communicate publicly on Twitter with Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-term communications director at the White House. When the approach disappointed Republicans, Scully said he had been hacked, which he later admitted was not true. C-SPAN then put Scully on “administrative leave” for lying. The committee eventually canceled the second debate after Trump refused to attend a virtual debate despite concerns about his diagnosis of Covid-19. The RNC has supported a number of changes to the committee, including adopting term limits for its board and banning members from commenting publicly on any candidate. McDaniel, in a response to Trump’s concerns, also called for more influence on journalists covering the general election, calling on the Commission “transparent criteria for selecting moderators of the debate who would exclude people with obvious conflicts of interest.” , professional or party agents “. This story has been updated with additional references.
