


The Republican National Committee lifted all restrictions for 2024 candidates to participate in any debates of their choosing after the White House hopefuls had applied consistent pressure to engage in outside forums.
“It is now time for Republican primary voters to decide who will be our next president and candidates are free to use any forum or format to communicate to voters as they see fit,” the RNC said in a statement Friday, noting it has held four debates so far with the “most conservative partners in the history” of a GOP primary.
Several candidates — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — have complained about the restrictions the committee put on them to not participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debates.
The announcement comes amid CNN and ABC News announcements they would be holding debates in January around the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.
The RNC has no additional debates scheduled, after hosting forums in Wisconsin, California, Florida and Alabama.

CNN said it would hold a debate on Jan. 10 before the Iowa caucuses at Drake University and a New Hampshire debate on Jan. 21 at St. Anselm College.
The network would raise qualifying restrictions for their debates to include a 10% polling minimum for the candidates across three national polls and/or Iowa polls that meet CNN’s reporting criteria, the network announced.
For New Hampshire, the candidates will have to meet similar polling requirements from CNN, but with Granite State likely voters.
ABC News is set to host a debate on Jan. 18 in New Hampshire at the same location as CNN.
Ramaswamy would be interested in participating in the CNN debates, his spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Post, while Christie’s spokesman Karl Rickett said they would look into the possibility.
DeSantis posted on X that he was “[l]ooking forward to debating in Iowa!”