The "RNC" is just "DNC-lite"

Former President Trump has stated he had no intentions of participating in the GOP debate Wednesday night in Milwaukee for a few months now, but today the RNC made it official who qualified for the debate and who did not. Ultimately, Trump was one of the non-qualifiers, because he refused to pledge he would support whomever wins the GOP nomination. Trump isn't the only one being excluded though. Party over country rules both the GOP and Democratic Party today.

It will be interesting to see what kind of ratings the Milwaukee debate generates. I'd guess they will be very subdued without Trump's presence, but even more so as it's painfully obvious the RNC is controlling the narrative by excluding candidates who refuse to sign a blank document stating they'll support whomever. If "whomever" is good enough to get a blank document pledge, then why isn't "whomever" good enough to be on the stage?

In this way, the GOP have validated President Trump's opposition to participating in the debate in the first place by invalidating their debate process. They want to stop Trump, but the only way they know how is going to backfire spectacularly. We need to stand united and demand accountability from both major political parties, whether you are Republican, Democrat or an Independent. We need to stand up against political censorship, which is what this move by the RNC is.

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Those who qualified are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Despite appearing to met the polling and donor requirements needed for the debate, Trump’s opposition to the loyalty pledge likely kept him from qualifying for the debate stage. The former president suggested for months that he would not attend the debate, pointing to his comfortable lead in the polls as reason for not attending.

There are a handful of other candidates who did not qualify for the debate stage, including former Texas Rep. Will Hurd and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Neither of them appeared to have met the polling requirements needed to qualify, and Hurd has also vowed to not sign any RNC loyalty pledge.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...al-candidates-who-qualified-for-first-debate/

 

It makes a difference in precedence for future elections, but probably not so much this one. If major parties can exclude certain candidates simply because they won't sign a blank document in support of "nobody knows for sure", it's a problem.

 

And see, this is what we mean when we say "RINO". We're talking about the ones who call themselves Republicans, but do things that are anti-democratic, which in turn neuters the legitimacy of the party as a whole. And in before everybody piles on and says but Trump is doing the same with all his "shenanigans".... that doesn't make it okay for other operatives within the party to collude and exclude.

 

This isn't about Trump.

 

Trump is licking his chops to debate Biden. If Biden ducks the debates for any reason at all, Trump will win in a cake walk. Again, the "but Trump" standard isn't going to work for Biden in that scenario. He can't claim Trump ducked debates when he refuses to debate RFK Jr and two wrongs don't equal a right. Biden skipping the debates would be the political blunder of the century. FWIW, he held his own against Trump in the 2020 debates. There's no logical reason for Biden to sidestep the 2024 debates. It would simply add to Trump's narrative.

 

Fair.

 

It's about the RNC excluding candidates for not signing the pledge. Trump wasn't the only one excluded for this reason and it also sets a horrible precedent moving forward. You think they won't do it again in 2028 when Trump's not around?