The Republican National Committee is considering a change in its bylaws that would prohibit GOP presidential candidates from participating in presidential debates put on by the Commission on Presidential Debates, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
“So long as the CPD appears intent on stonewalling the meaningful reforms necessary to restore its credibility with the Republican Party as a fair and nonpartisan actor, the RNC will take every step to ensure that future Republican presidential nominees are given that opportunity elsewhere,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in the Thursday letter addressed to Frank Fahrenkopf and Kenneth Wollack, co-chairs of the debate commission. “Accordingly, the RNC will initiate the process of amending the Rules of the Republican Party at our upcoming Winter Meeting to prohibit future Republican nominees from participating in CPD-sponsored debates.”
The RNC’s winter meeting is slated for February in Salt Lake City. The letter was first reported on by The New York Times.
The nonprofit commission, run by members of both parties, considers itself nonpartisan but was a target of former President Donald Trump’s ire during the 2020 election. Trump withdrew from a debate hosted by the nonprofit commission in Oct. 2020 after organizers made it virtual following his Covid diagnosis.