The Republican National Committee announced over a week ago that it had unanimously voted to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, the primary organizer of general-election presidential debates. The RNC argues the CPD is “biased” and unwilling to “serve the interest of the American people.”
The CPD was first established in 1987 jointly by the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties in order to ensure that “…general election debates between or among the leading candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States are a permanent part of the electoral process.” The organization describes itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) corporation, and started sponsoring the presidential debates in 1988.
The feud between the two groups has been simmering for over a decade, The Washington Post reports. During the debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, Republicans complained that the CPD favored the Democrats. The RNC claimed that during the debate when Romney and Obama were facing off about Obama’s approach toward the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, CNN’s Candy Crowley interjected herself and “falsely accused our nominee of lying,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says.
