Four Republican backbencher candidates who did not qualify for the first 2024 GOP presidential debate this week have criticized the Republican National Committee (RNC) over its rules. These contenders, including conservative radio host Larry Elder and businessman Perry Johnson, called the rules “rigged” and expressed their intention to take legal action against the RNC. They believe that the rules were designed to ensure that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis becomes the nominee instead of Donald Trump.
The prime-time debate is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Milwaukee and will be televised by Fox News. The RNC announced in June that in order to qualify for the debate, candidates had to reach a minimum of 40,000 unique donors and register at least 1% in three national polls, or 1% in two national polls and 1% in one early state poll.
While many candidates were able to meet the donor threshold, the polling mark proved to be more challenging, especially for those with little name recognition in a race dominated by Trump. Elder pointed out that the RNC was not counting polls from Rasmussen, a polling firm known for being favorable to Trump. Former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas also criticized the committee’s decision not to include polls that surveyed independents and Democrats willing to vote for a Republican.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who also failed to qualify for the debate, had previously stated that candidates who don’t make the stage should drop out of the race. He acknowledged that as a relatively new national figure, he faced different challenges and time frames compared to more established candidates.
For these backbencher candidates, not making the debate is a significant setback as they struggle to gain attention and now have no chance of having a breakout moment on stage. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has decided to skip the debate and has stated that he will not participate in any future GOP debates. Eight of his Republican rivals, including Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, and Asa Hutchinson, will be competing for the runner-up position at the event in Milwaukee.
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