Ramaswamy asks RNC to trim number of candidates for next GOP primary debate
GOP Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is calling on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to make major changes before the third primary debate.
According to Fox News, Ramaswamy's team recently sent a letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Committee on Arrangements co-Chairs David Bossie and Anne Hathaway, asking them to drastically reduce the number of candidates on stage at the next debate.
He wants only the top four polling Republican candidates to make the debate stage, to help narrow the field of "serious" competitors to former President Donald Trump.
He also wants the donor threshold to be raised to 100,000.
I agree. Trim it to the top 3 and kick the rest to the curb.
— R T (@RDog861) October 3, 2023
That, Ramaswamy argued, will allow prospective voters to focus on candidates that might stand a chance at winning the nomination, even as Trump holds commanding double-digit leads over all candidates, both in most state and national polls.
"[A]gainst the backdrop of a chaotic second debate and the reality of a frontrunner who has declined to participate, we respectfully call on the RNC to revise its approach so that Republican voters can focus on serious candidates who have a viable path to beating Joe Biden – or whomever the Democrats put up to replace him," Vivek 2024 CEO Ben Yoho wrote in the letter.
"Time is running out. Early-state voting is rapidly approaching in January," Yoho continued, according to the letter, which was originally obtained by The Hill.
"Another unhelpful debate in November is not an option: voters deserve a real choice for who will best serve as our party’s nominee. Voters are not well-served when a cacophony of candidates with minimal chance of success talk over each other from the edge of the stage, while the overwhelming frontrunner is absent from the center of that same stage."
More drama erupted after the RNC threatened to cut Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie out of the next debate over a scheduled Fox News appearance, where they were supposed to sit together.
The two will now make separate appearances on the network, but the threat of banning them from the next debate triggered angry responses from both men.
Last week’s RNC debate was a disgrace, and I’m starting to believe that was by design. This is what a brokered and rigged nomination process looks like. I disagree like hell with @GovChristie, but when they asked me to face off with him, I said I’d be a man and do it – before the… https://t.co/yy9G7L4kgA
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) October 3, 2023
So far, it doesn't appear as if the RNC has any intention of taking Ramaswamy's recommendations.
Until Ramaswamy's numbers significantly climb, should that even happen, it looks as though the RNC has the upper hand.