Are you a Republican who would like to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020? Good luck with that.
The Republican National Committee just voted to get rid of the body that organizes presidential primary debates, so if you want to debate other GOP presidential candidates, including President Trump, you’ll have to do it on your own. (And don’t expect Trump to agree to a debate.)
CNN calls it “a small but meaningful change signaling that Republicans do not plan to sanction any primary debates in the upcoming presidential election cycle.” It’s also “a warning to would-be Republican rivals of President Donald Trump about his strong support among party loyalists.”
Ohio’s John Kasich and Arizona’s Jeff Flake are among the disgruntled GOP politicians who oppose Trump’s leadership and might challenge him for the nomination.
RNC co-chair Bob Paduchik told Buzzfeed the debates committee is “unnecessary.”
The RNC insisted it discussed the move to dismantle the debates committee. No one opposed shutting it down. In fact, several “committeemen spoke in favor of the change, including Randy Evans of Georgia, who is awaiting confirmation as ambassador to Luxembourg.”
“Obviously this is intended to dissuade a primary challenge to the president,” Evans said.
Here’s Trump in 2016 at a GOP debate: