RNC suspends partnership with NBC in fallout over chaotic CNBC debate

[ExodusNirvana]

With GOP anger over CNBC's handling of Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate boiling over, the Republican National Committee announced Friday that it was suspending its partnership with NBC News for an upcoming debate in February.

In a letter to NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said that their relationship for the upcoming debate scheduled for Feb. 26, 2016 at the University of Houston was on hold "pending further discussion."

The RNC has faced increasingly vocal -- and active -- dissatisfaction with the debate process from presidential contenders in the wake of Wednesday night's faceoff, with candidates and their campaigns complaining that CNBC conducted the debate in "bad faith" and asked questions in an attempt to create infighting. "We simply cannot continue with NBC without full consultation with our campaigns," Priebus wrote Friday.

In a statement, NBC News called the RNC's decision "disappointing."

"However, along with our debate broadcast partners at Telemundo we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party," the network said.

[The debate over CNBC’s moderators]

Priebus noted that a debate would still be held on that day and that the RNC would continue to work with its partner in the event, the National Review. But he did not say whether Telemundo, the only Spanish-language media organization hosting a debate in the Republican primary, would remain a part of the partnership.

The decision was generally praised by various Republican campaigns, most of which have complained about the way the debates have been handled. The campaign of Donald Trump, who used his closing statement Wednesday to take credit for shortening CNBC's debate time, fully endorsed the move.

"The campaign supports the RNC’s decision to suspend the debate on February 26th due to the total lack of substance and respect exhibited during Wednesday’s night’s debate," said spokeswoman Hope Hicks. "We look forward to pursuing alternatives along with the RNC to ensure candidates are given ample opportunity to outline their vision for the future of our country."


A spokesman for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sergio Gor, also praised the RNC's decision. "We hope networks and future moderators realize that what happened in Colorado should never have occurred," said Gor, whose candidate complained Wednesday night about a lack of time.

Ben Carson's campaign, which was uneasy with Priebus's letter, had been working on its own effort to change upcoming debates. As far back as May, Carson had sent letters to the RNC chairman, warning that the candidate's large and diverse field was ill-served by the debate rules.

"The rules may be good for me personally, but they are not good for the process," he wrote. "We are blessed to have many qualified candidates running for President. More than a typical debate format can handle. Surely we can find a format that allows every voice to be heard."

Since Wednesday, Carson had directed his team to work with rival campaigns on debate reform. A meeting of campaign staffers was set for Washington on Sunday -- and the RNC was not invited.

Priebus had signaled early on that he was dissatisfied with CNBC's handling of the debate, which at times devolved into cross talk and bickering between moderators and candidates. At several points in the debate, candidates scolded the hosts for the nature of their question.

[GOP candidates tangle with one another — and CNBC — in a chaotic debate]

Behind the scenes, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign manager Danny Diaz expressed his concerns to CNBC directly while the debate was still in progress. Diaz worried that CNBC's format and management of the debate disadvantaged Bush, who by the end had logged the least amount of speaking time.

“I expressed my concerns with the amount of time that we’ve had. I think that’s pretty clear,” Diaz told The Washington Post Wednesday.

But publicly, the grumbling began on stage. Almost immediately after the questioning began, Donald Trump accused CNBC's moderator John Harwood of asking a mean spirited question.

"Is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign?" Harwood asked.


Later in the debate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) seized the opportunity to excoriate the network.

"You know, let me say something at the outset. The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," Cruz said to massive applause. "This is not a cage match."

A spokeswoman for Cruz's campaign declined to comment on the RNC's Friday letter, as did businesswoman Carly Fiorina's.

After the debate, candidates and their campaigns protested loudly that CNBC had conducted a frivolous, biased event.

"I thought it was a wasted opportunity, and, quite frankly, that’s what made it unfair, not just to the candidates but to the American people,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Thursday morning, adding that a network dedicated to business should have asked more questions about economic issues.

RNC suspends partnership with NBC in fallout over chaotic CNBC debate

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Why are these fukking clowns pissed off about a lack of time? Two things:

1. Carson and Trump didn't want the debate to go three hours. They set that wheel in motion and the rest of the candidates sat idle and said nothing.
2. There are a dozen fukking candidates up on that stage.

Yes, Hillary and Bernie are going to have forever to talk because the Dems are intelligent enough to realize that no there are not "many qualified candidates.." If they want to point fingers then point fingers at that fat fukk Christie who is polling under one percent and still continues on running his big mouth.

Outside of that, them suspending their partnership with NBC will help nothing. There's too much talk about "gotcha" questions. Yeah, some of the questions were ridiculous but if you are running for president you need to learn how to sidestep those and turn them into a win. Crying and whining does nothing but make you look like a fool who is only comfortable if moderators and questions are hand picked. Plus, now NBC and CNN can shift the narrative if they see fit and report that the candidates are trying to dodge difficult questions and you know what.. that narrative isn't far off. If you watch Carson's campaign manager on CNN last night it is clear that they really do only want to answer softball questions. They don't really want substance. It's a clown show.

 

[tmonster]

partnership? just say yall aint doing the debate no mo'
ole hassadiddy ass biatches

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

Find better candidates. Problem solved.

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

Why are these fukking clowns pissed off about a lack of time? Two things:

1. Carson and Trump didn't want the debate to go three hours. They set that wheel in motion and the rest of the candidates sat idle and said nothing.
2. There are a dozen fukking candidates up on that stage.

Yes, Hillary and Bernie are going to have forever to talk because the Dems are intelligent enough to realize that no there are not "many qualified candidates.." If they want to point fingers then point fingers at that fat fukk Christie who is polling under one percent and still continues on running his big mouth.

Outside of that, them suspending their partnership with NBC will help nothing. There's too much talk about "gotcha" questions. Yeah, some of the questions were ridiculous but if you are running for president you need to learn how to sidestep those and turn them into a win. Crying and whining does nothing but make you look like a fool who is only comfortable if moderators and questions are hand picked. Plus, now NBC and CNN can shift the narrative if they see fit and report that the candidates are trying to dodge difficult questions and you know what.. that narrative isn't far off. If you watch Carson's campaign manager on CNN last night it is clear that they really do only want to answer softball questions. They don't really want substance. It's a clown show.

Exactly. They need half these jackasses to drop out to have a coherent debate.

 

[[Something Cool]]

The Republican candidates and commentators are acting so bytch-made/disingenuous with their complaints about the questions. First, that cavalcade of candidates has to distinguish themselves from their opponents, a good way to do that is to highlight disagreements.

Second, they complained the questions didn't highlight what Republican voters "care about" but Republicans constantly push for tax cuts and complain about the deficit. So when the moderators allowed them to highlight their tax plans, which of course included nothing but tax cuts across the board, the next responsible questions should be "Ok, well these tax cuts are going to raise the deficit too, so whats your math?" And if a candidate views that as an attack or gives the bullshyt answer of "well we'll just grow our way out it it " the onus is on the Republican voters to give that candidate the " not coddle them. At least some of the candidates responded by going into how they would change social security payouts, which is what they really need to debate. Instead they want a fukkin' 9 way circle jerk of partisan rhetoric and tired platitudes.

Also, why is everyone all of a sudden acting like Anderson Cooper didn't have the Democratic candidates leaning back with his questions during the debate too? That's what you NEED to prep for the general election debates.

 

[ExodusNirvana]

Exactly. They need half these jackasses to drop out to have a coherent debate.

But if they did that it would expose just how inept ALL of these candidates really are. They'd have to stand on their own instead of spending an hour and a half shytting on each others terrible ideas.

The GOP clown car is so filled to capacity, you got rubber noses here, neon wigs there, a water spray flower, and yes somehow they've managed to fit a 12 foot long hoagie in there.

 

[ORDER_66]

NoBodyCares.....

 

[The Watcher]

Be a crybaby bytch because someone asked you about your sketch tax plan and that time you spent a decade shilling snake oil and claiming it cured your cancer while running for president brehs.

Expect the voters to want some idiot, p*ssy president that cries publicly because a cable journalist asked them a debate question in a mean voice brehs.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

you might as well schedule a 4 hour debate with all those candidates

 

[Strapped]

shieet is real salty