RNC Chairwoman Ronn McDaniel spoke exclusively with Politico regarding the upcoming RNC debate and responded to candidate complaints about not making the debate stage.
Long-shot Republican hopefuls Perry Johnson, Will Hurd, Francis Suarez, and Larry Elder failed to meet the requirements to debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Elder and Johnson are now threatening legal action against the RNC, but McDaniel isn’t worried.
“I have nothing against all four of these candidates. They are far better than Joe Biden,” McDaniel said. “But the rules are the rules. We were very clear about it. We applied them equally to every candidate. And unfortunately, they fell short for this debate.”
“We put forth metrics that we felt would create good polling,” she said.
“I don’t think many people woke up today surprised that these four candidates didn’t make the stage,” McDaniel added later. “And I hope they do well, but you got to say, ‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t have gotten in as late as I did. Maybe I should have gotten in earlier. I would have had a longer runway to get the polling that I needed.’ I mean, it’s not easy when you have zero name ID to get to 1 percent in three national polls.”
Tonight, we officially kick off the nomination process in Milwaukee!
Join the team to Beat Biden by going to https://t.co/xiBrmuZ58O and take the pledge! pic.twitter.com/j0CsEhq13I
— Ronna McDaniel (@RonnaMcDaniel) August 23, 2023