Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel apparently launched her crusade against the non-partisan Commission on President Debates ahead of the final presidential debate on Thursday because she is offended by its decision to mute the candidates’ mics during certain portions of the event.
During an interview on Fox News Tuesday afternoon, McDaniel reiterated Trump’s commitment to participate in the final presidential debate, before going on a tirade against the CPD by echoing the President’s claims of the organization enacting “pro-Biden antics.”
“Of course the President is going to debate. He looks forward to getting in front of the American people and debating Joe Biden, but he’s right, this commission has been stacked against him from day one,” McDaniel said. “It’s part of the corruption that we’ve seen in Washington. They don’t like Donald Trump.”
McDaniel griped that Washington, D.C. is “plugged in” for Biden and derided the CPD for its decision to mute mics during portions of the debate. McDaniel also went after the CPD for canceling what was supposed to be the second presidential debate on Oct. 15, which Trump first pulled out of after the CPD announced that it would be virtual in light of his COVID-19 diagnosis.
“This is a city that’s plugged in for Joe Biden, and to have this supposed non-partisan commission continue to make rule changes without consulting the Trump campaign, break promises that they made to the Trump campaign, to unilaterally make decisions that ended the second debate, it’s just really shameful,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel then accused the CPD of “election interference” and said she hopes the nonpartisan organization will “not exist after this.”
“I certainly don’t consider them non-partisan. They do not deserve that status and they have not worked on behalf of the Republican Party because you have a bunch of Never Trump-ers on that commission,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel went on to bolster Trump’s recent attacks against NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker ahead of her debate moderation duties during the final presidential debate. The RNC chair grouped Welker with “these moderators (having) political affiliations.”
McDaniel pointed to Savannah Guthrie, who grilled Trump while moderating an NBC News town hall last week, for being “so combative” compared to ABC News’ George Stephanopolous, who supposedly “played patty cake” with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a separate town hall.
“The President gets attacked and moderators interrupt, saying: let me tell you the facts of this,” McDaniel said. “It is totally stacked against the president when it comes to the media. It is frustrating.”
Watch McDaniel’s remarks below:
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel claims Commission on Presidential Debates is "stacked against" Trump pic.twitter.com/IxsipAWTXD
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 20, 2020
