'Intentional slap in the face': RNC’s feud with Trump escalates

23 October 2023

Days before the Republican National Committee (RNC) holds its third debate in Miami, Florida on November 8, tension between the organization and ex-President Donald Trump has quickly escalated, CNN reports.

Per the news outlet, although the former president skipped the first two GOP debates, his choice to host "what appears to be a competing event in the same area" on the same day of the third debate is what's causing tensions to rise.

"It's a slap in the face [to the RNC]," a GOPer close to the RNC told CNN. "An intentional slap in the face."

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The ex-president criticized the organization when the first debate was announced alleging that "the RNC didn't get 'approval' from him or his campaign ahead of announcing the debates, though presidential candidates do not have singular control over the format or timing of these events."

Furthermore, a Republican official with knowledge of the matter and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said Trump and his team knew about the debates.

CNN reports:

The debate fight came to a head when RNC officials met with Trump's senior campaign advisers in Nashville last spring at the RNC retreat to sort out what had become a public back and forth, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.

The conversation turned into a heated back-and-forth between David Bossie, who is in charge of the RNC debate committee, and Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita.

The 2024 MAGA hopeful became "increasingly frustrated" when Bossie and McDaniel traveled to Trump's New Jersey estate in efforts to convince him to attend the debates, according to the news outlet.

"Sitting there, having Bossie and Ronna tell him that it's a good idea to go to a debate where he's going to get the crap kicked out of him by all the other candidates, never mind the moderators, there's no upside," the source told CNN. "He didn't appreciate it. It just started to grate on him."

Regarding Trump's decision to host a Florida rally on the same night as the November 8 debate, Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler recently told The Miami Herald, "I think it's good for the party. It helps rally people; gets them informed and energized. I don't care who the candidate is — Donald Trump or Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis or whoever. If they're having events in Florida, Republicans are getting off the couch and are more likely to vote."

However, the Republican with RNC ties told CNN, "The reality is 50% of the base is with him – that means there's another 50% that's not. That 50% has to feel like there's a fair process that played out if they're going to turn out if Trump is nominated and actually vote for him."

CNN's full report is available at this link. The Miami Herald's report is here.

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