(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) After years of leftist cheerleaders allegedly moderating presidential debates that invariably grilled Republican candidates and pampered Democrats, the Republican National Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to sever ties with the Commission on Presidential Debates.
In accordance with the RNC’s decision, any Republican who wants to run for president will be required to sign a pledge that they will only appear in party-sanctioned primary and general election debates, reported Blaze Media.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stressed that the GOP is “not walking away from debates. We are walking away from the CPD.”
“We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” McDaniel said in a statement.
Republican discontent with the CPD spans years, with justified concerns about debates being moderated by leftist journalists who favored Democrat candidates.
During a 2012 debate between then-candidate Mitt Romney and former President Barack Obama, for one prime example, CNN moderator Candy Crowley rushed to Obama’s defense over his response to an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
The spectacle led to criticism that it appeared as if Romney “was debating Crowley and Obama at the same time,” noted the Blaze, which led Rush Limbaugh to call the blatant bias on display “an act of journalistic terror.”
The situation hadn’t improved by 2020, when the CPD-appointed moderator, then-Fox News talker Chris Wallace, peppered Donald Trump with slanted questions favoring then-candidate Joe Biden, reported the Federalist.
The pattern continued with moderator Steve Scully, who had tweeted a private conversation he had with a notable anti-Trumper and then falsely claimed he was hacked.
Before the third 2020 presidential debate, Trump objected that the topics selected by moderator Kristen Welker excluded foreign policy, allowing Biden to dodge any questions about his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in foreign countries, reported The Blaze.
“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates,” McDaniel said.
“The Commission on Presidential Debates 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 RNC cited four examples that, it claimed, showed the CPD’s inherent bias and partisanship at work:
* Waiting until 26 states had begun early voting before hosting the first presidential debate in 2020.
* Making unilateral changes to previously agreed-upon debate formats and conditions, in some cases without even notifying the candidates.
* Selecting a moderator in 2020 who had once worked for Joe Biden.
* Failing to maintain the organization’s strict nonpartisanship, with a majority of its Board Members publicly disparaging the Republican-nominee.
