Presidential candidate Larry Elder to sue RNC over GOP debate
- Larry Elder intends to sue the RNC for not letting him on the debate stage
- Elder: 'It appeared the rules of the game were rigged'
- RNC would not accept the Rasmussen Polls as qualifying for the debate
FILE – Republican conservative radio show host Larry Elder speaks to supporters after losing the California gubernatorial recall election on Sept. 14, 2021, in Costa Mesa, Calif. Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who sought to replace the California governor in a failed 2021 recall effort, announced Thursday, April 20, 2023 he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
maylen
(NewsNation) — Republican White House hopeful Larry Elder announced Tuesday he intends to sue the Republican National Committee (RNC) in an attempt to halt Wednesday’s first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee.
Elder claimed he had met the criteria for Wednesday’s debate. However, the RNC told him he did not meet all the required qualifications.
“It appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage,” Elder posted to Twitter.
NewsNation reached out to the RNC for comment but has not yet heard back. According to the RNC press release, only eight presidential candidates qualified for the debate.
According to Elder, his campaign submitted a “strong, in-depth qualification package” to the RNC’s director of debate prior to the qualification deadline.
In the package, Elder’s campaign included proof he exceeded the RNC’s requirement of at least 40,000 individual donors, proof he exceeded the RNC’s requirement of 200 donors in at least 37 states, proof that he met the RNC’s polling requirement of at least 1% in select polls, and provided even the detailed cross tabs of those polls.
He also signed the “Beat Biden” loyalty pledge to support the ultimate GOP nominee, which former President Donald Trump even refused to do. Elder even agreed to allow the RNC to view his WinRed fundraising totals, which according to his campaign, he exceeded.
“Only after receiving our completed qualification package, did the RNC inform us that they were not accepting Rasmussen Polls as qualifying toward the debate,” Elder said.
Elder explained the RNC would not accept the Rasmussen Polls because they have ties to Trump. Elder claimed he had no prior knowledge that Trump had ever worked with Rasmussen previously.
Regardless, Elder revealed he polled at least 1% in another qualifying poll — RSC Polling — that was conducted before the RNC’s deadline, yet the committee still won’t let him participate in the debate.
Elder wasn’t alone. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who also claimed he had qualified for the debate, also didn’t make the RNC’s debate.
Presidential candidate Will Hurd was another name that didn’t make the cut. He claimed the “lack of transparency and confusion around the RNC’s debate requirements is antithetical to the democratic process” and the “polling standards are arbitrary, unclear and lack consistency.”
