Republican National Committee officials threatened to ban both Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy from the next GOP primary debate over a planned joint appearance on Fox News Channel, both men claimed Tuesday.
Christie, the former New Jersey governor, and Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, were set to appear simultaneously on FNC’s “Special Report” evening news program.
However, both candidates said RNC officials warned them doing so would run afoul of their pledge to only take part in sanctioned debates — and rule them out of the Nov. 8 showdown in Miami.
Now, both 2024 aspirants are planning to conduct separate interviews with Fox host Bret Baier — and are raking the RNC over the coals.
“It is very disappointing that we were threatened with exclusion from the Miami debate and future debates for trying to have a more complete dialogue with each other and the voters. Every campaign was offered that opportunity by Fox News and they have now been effectively banned by the RNC,” Christie wrote in a scathing post to X, formerly Twitter.
Ramaswamy echoed that sentiment.
“Last week’s RNC debate was a disgrace, and I’m starting to believe that was by design. This is what a brokered and rigged nomination process looks like,” he wrote.
“I disagree like hell with @GovChristie, but when they asked me to face off with him, I said I’d be a man and do it – before the RNC intervened to cut it off.”
Both Christie and Ramaswamy clashed over policy differences during the first Republican debate back on Aug. 23, with Christie mocking Ramaswamy as “a guy that sounds like ChatGPT.”
Following last week’s second debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis challenged frontrunner and former President Donald Trump to a one-on-one verbal bout, which the 77-year-old’s campaign turned down out of hand.
DeSantis is also planning on tangling with California Gov. Gavin Newsom for a televised debate Nov. 30.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The RNC declined to comment on the record.
Trump has skipped the first two RNC debates and his campaign has urged the committee to scrap any future showcases.
“The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election,” senior Trump advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote in a statement Monday.
Trump currently has a 42.8-percentage point lead in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.