Ron DeSantis’s campaign team is hitting out against a warning from the Republican National Committee not to participate in an outside event hosted by an Iowa Christian organization, arguing the group is unfairly limiting GOP candidates while not extending those restrictions to former President Donald Trump.
“It is disappointing the RNC would threaten to punish candidates that participate in the Iowa Family Leader Forum,” said James Uthmeier, DeSantis’s campaign manager, in a post on X. “Family Leader has been a staple event in past primaries where Iowa voters and the faith community can hear from candidates.”
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WARNED AGAINST PARTICIPATING IN IOWA THANKSGIVING EVENT
A handful of GOP candidates were invited to participate in the Family Leader’s “Thanksgiving Family Forum” on Nov. 17, including Trump, DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). However, the candidates were warned that attending the event could disqualify them from future RNC debates as it would violate the pledge that prohibits them from “taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates.”
“Please be advised that any Republican presidential candidate who participates in this or other similar events will be deemed to have violated this pledge and will be disqualified from taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates,” the RNC wrote in a letter to candidates on Oct. 28, according to RealClearPolitics.
The letter has prompted criticism from some candidates, such as DeSantis, who has vowed to participate in the event despite the RNC warning.
“I think it’s an important part of this process,” DeSantis said on Saturday. “There’s no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate. I’ll be here no matter what happens.”
The Florida governor’s campaign accused the RNC of disproportionately applying its restrictions to presidential candidates, pointing to Trump’s failure to participate in official candidate debates while holding competing rallies and events.
“Yet the RNC is totally fine with a candidate skipping debates and engaging in counter programming?” Uthmeier said. “The establishment will always work to take power away from the people – we must fight back.”
Despite the warning, the Family Leader indicated it still plans to move forward with the event, noting the group held similar forums during both the 2012 and 2016 election cycles.
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“We do not agree that our Forum fits within the RNC’s ‘debate’ restriction,” Drew Zahn, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement to CNN. “We know from experience our event can be a win-win addition to the election process without in any way competing with the RNC’s debates. It’s just a completely different format and kind of event.”
DeSantis, Scott, and Ramaswamy have already RSVP’d for the event, he told the outlet. It’s not yet clear whether the other candidates, such as Trump, plan to attend.
