The Republican National Committee (RNC) has announced it will follow the tradition started in 2016 by holding the first presidential debate for GOP candidates in conjunction with its August meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has been eight years since the RNC first used its clout to organize that first debate in Cleveland, Ohio; it is critical for the RNC to build upon the successes of that cycle as conservative voters pick our next nominee.
Prior to the 2016 presidential election cycle, neither political party had a role in formulating and sanctioning their respective presidential primary debates. As silly as it may sound today, the mainstream media apparatus literally dictated every aspect of the primary debates: where they would be, who would moderate them, and when they would occur. The RNC had literally no influence over the stage upon which Republican nominees were compared and evaluated.
All of that changed when I proposed the RNC insert itself into the process leading up to the 2016 cycle. The RNC’s creation of a new Standing Committee on Presidential Debates resulted in the first successful effort of either party to control and sanction the primary debate process. For the first time in history, the RNC was able to provide Republican candidates with a predictable schedule and ensure that every debate was centered around conservative policy elements. The RNC partnered with multiple mainstream media outlets on all sides of the ideological spectrum; CNN partnered with conservative-leaning Salem Media, ABC News selected conservative journalist Mary Katherine Ham as a moderator and partnered with the Independent Journal Review, and CBS chose the Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel to question candidates at its debate.
A CNN staffer walks across the stage where the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group, and the Washington Times took place on March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Florida. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Starting in August of 2015, we held one debate a month, spreading them out across a variety of states to ensure no state hosted more than one. This ultimately broadened the reach of the Republican debates. Beginning in January of 2016, we held two debates a month. Gone were the days of back-to-back debates held in the same states answering the same questions asked exclusively by left wing moderators. The process was a success.
Heading into the 2024 presidential cycle, the RNC must build on the progress made the last time our party had competitive primaries. Specifically, the RNC should ensure that the outlets and the moderators that question our candidates are exclusively conservative. The candidates are seeking the Republican nomination from Republican voters, not the acceptance of the media outlets that have expressed outright contempt towards our party and its candidates.
It would be absurd to think anyone at CNN, NBC, the Washington Post, or Politico has a clue about the issues that grassroots Republican voters are concerned about.
Think about it. One of CNN’s just departed hosts, Don Lemon, recently commented that candidate Nikki Haley is “past her prime.” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell lied about Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R-FL) position on the advanced placement tests in Florida. Moreover, every left-leaning media outlet is openly opposed to and biased against our last president, Donald Trump.
Every one of these left-wing organizations was a laptop denier — openly interfering in the last election by suppressing the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop in the lead up to election day. Each of them labeled legitimate questions as to the origins of Covid-19 as misinformation. All of them accepted the Democratic National Committee-funded Steele Dossier as fact and took the letter from 50 plus intelligence officials as gospel instead of the political hit piece it was.
Making matters worse, while most in the Republican Party have made standing up to China a major issue, many leftist organizations are openly accepting funding from TikTok, a social media application under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party which has been deemed a national security threat by most major U.S. intelligence agencies.
Solving this problem is rather simple. Instead of relying on left wing media organizations that are disgusted by the possibility of a Republican president, we must have conservative media outlets partner with conservative media groups. Salem Media could partner with Breitbart. Real America’s Voice could partner with Turning Point USA. Rumble, TBN, CPAC, the Daily Caller, the Blaze, the Washington Times, the First, AMAC or other right leaning groups could join forces to host a debate. Further, in order to ensure that the widest possible audience can view the debates, C-SPAN should be permitted access to the live feed of any RNC debate, thereby alleviating any viewership-related concerns.
Instead of moderators that would be hostile to our candidates like Chuck Todd, Jim Acosta, Martha Raddatz, Jon Karl, or Andrea Mitchell, we must have moderators that understand the issues of the right, such as Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin, Alex Marlow, Glenn Beck, Dan Bongino, Dennis Prager, Salena Zito, Joel Pollak, Mollie Hemingway, Charlie Kirk, Liz Wheeler, Matt Boyle, Tom Bevan, Trish Regan, and Dave Rubin. While this list hardly exhaustive, the point is that the goal of moderators should be to reflect the pulse of grassroots voters and ask questions the audience cares about, rather than generating clicks from embarrassing moments.
The RNC’s obligation is to Republican voters and candidates, not to a group of corporate media tycoons who despise the values and candidates of our party. Many said that my effort to take control of the Republican presidential debates in 2015 was doomed to fail, but the will of our committee members was firm, and we made history. The RNC can do the same in this election cycle, leading the way to provide a huge service to GOP candidates and voters.
Sean M. Spicer was the Chief Strategist of the Republican National Committee in 2016 cycle and oversaw the debates. He can be reached at seanspicer.com.