It's about time.
The Republican National Committee has signaled that Republicans will not participate in debates that are sponsored by the "non-partisan" Commission on Presidential Debates.
According to the New York Times:
The Republican National Committee is preparing to change its rules to require presidential candidates seeking the party's nomination to sign a pledge to not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Republican committee officials alerted the debate commission to their plans in a letter sent on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. If the change goes forward, it would be one of the most substantial shifts in how presidential and vice-presidential debates have been conducted since the commission began organizing debates more than 30 years ago.
The nonprofit commission, founded by the two parties in 1987 to codify the debates as a permanent part of presidential elections, describes itself as nonpartisan. But Republicans have complained for nearly a decade that its processes favor the Democrats, mirroring increasing rancor from conservatives toward Washington-based institutions.
Finally, Republicans are wising up and refusing to participate in this rigged game where they have to debate the other candidate as well as the moderator at presidential debates.
Just as a reminder, these are the individuals who were chosen by this "non-partisan" commission to host the debates last year.
We have "unbiased" Steve Scully from CSPAN.
But, to be fair, Fox News had Chris Wallace host.
Oh yeah, he's not exactly the most unbiased person to have host a debate either.
More from the New York Times:
It remains to be seen what, if any, new entity the Republican Party will choose as a host for debates and whether Democrats will agree.
Republicans have long complained about how the commission handles debates, going back to the 2012 campaign, when Senator Mitt Romney of Utah was the Republican nominee against the incumbent Democrat, President Barack Obama. The moderator of the town hall-style debate, Candy Crowley, then with CNN, fact checked Mr. Romney in real time about a claim he made about Mr. Obama, prompting an outcry from conservatives.
But the intensity of frustration with the commission has increased since Mr. Trump first became the Republican nominee in 2016.
Mr. Trump's adviser, Rudolph W. Giuliani, argued with the commission at the second debate with Mrs. Clinton, when he tried to seat women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct near the stage. Mr. Trump has also complained about moderators repeatedly, insisting that both the former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace and the NBC News reporter Kristen Welker were biased against him.
The commission changed the second presidential debate in 2020 to a virtual format, prompting Mr. Trump to withdraw from it after a contentious debate with the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, for which Mr. Trump was heavily criticized.
Mr. Trump's campaign manager at the time, Bill Stepien, wrote a blistering letter to the commission after the second debate format was changed, accusing the commission, among other things, of omitting the topic of foreign policy to try to help Mr. Biden.
The commission is biased, it's unfair towards Republicans, and they don't need to play this game.
Maybe there can be an agreement reached that would make the American people happy, as was rumored last year.
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