by Michael Warren at Politico
The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from its participation in the Commission on Presidential Debates, the organization that has long governed general-election presidential debates.
In a statement, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the commission is “biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.”
The commission was formed in 1987 as a nonprofit sponsored by both the Republican and Democratic Parties and has sponsored debates in every presidential election since 1988. The group’s co-chairs include former RNC chairman Frank Fahrenkopf.
CNN has reached out to the commission for comment.
Thursday’s vote comes after months of signals from the RNC that it sought a break from the commission. In June 2021, McDaniel sent a letter outlining several complaints about the commission’s practices, reflecting former President Donald Trump’s concerns about the conduct of the 2020 debates.
And in January, McDaniel sent another letter threatening to “prohibit future Republican nominees from participating in CPD-sponsored debates” unless the commission changed its rules.
The RNC claims it has not pulled its future nominees out of debates entirely.