The Republican National Committee (RNC) has been accused of corrupting the debate process by leaving candidate Perry Johnson off the stage despite him appearing to meet all of the requirements to qualify.
Johnson, an American businessman and author from Michigan, was reported by NBC News late last week as appearing to have qualified for the debate stage based on an analysis of the RNC’s requirements.
Polls released on Friday had him eclipsing the 1% threshold in two national efforts, 1% in an Iowa poll, and 2% in a survey regarding New Hampshire.
Candidates, according to the rules, needed to poll at least 1% in three RNC-recognized national polls, or a mix of RNC-recognized national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Monday.
He appeared to have done so.
Johnson’s campaign previously announced that he had reached the donor threshold and had signed the pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee.
See you in Milwaukee! https://t.co/9CqQ4p6z6x
— Perry Johnson (@PJQualityGuru) August 18, 2023
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RNC Accused Of Rigging Debate Process
The RNC told Johnson’s campaign that they weren’t recognizing one of the national polls because it only surveyed 38 states, though his people countered that the poll was balanced regionally and therefore qualified as national.
Johnson was furious and accused the RNC of trying to rig the debate.
“The debate process has been corrupted, plain and simple,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our campaign hit every metric put forward by the RNC and we have qualified for the debate. We’ll be in Milwaukee Wednesday and will have more to say tomorrow.”
“The corrupt and rigged RNC debate process has been a trainwreck since the beginning,” Johnson added in a statement Tuesday.
The debate process has been corrupted, plain and simple. Our campaign hit every metric put forward by the RNC and we have qualified for the debate. We’ll be in Milwaukee Wednesday and will have more to say tomorrow.
— Perry Johnson (@PJQualityGuru) August 22, 2023
One social media account known as “johnny maga,” a pro-Trump account on X, accused the RNC of trying to force “Never Trump” candidates like former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson into the spotlight.
[totalpoll id=”1221945″]
“Fox [and] the RNC are working together to protect Desantis [and] make the debate a Trump smear fest,” they wrote. “They let Asa Hutchinson on the stage, but not Perry Johnson — even though Perry is ahead. They want Asa on stage to amplify his calls for Trump to be disqualified via the 14th amendment.”
Fox & the RNC are working together to protect Desantis & make the debate a Trump smear fest
They let Asa Hutchinson on the stage, but not Perry Johnson — even though Perry is ahead
They want Asa on stage to amplify his calls for Trump to be disqualified via the 14th amendment pic.twitter.com/0ihLTOOJTp
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) August 22, 2023
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Johnson Has Threatened To Sue
Hutchinson promoted Democrat attempts to disqualify former President Donald Trump from running for President, particularly referencing the 14th Amendment theory.
“I’m not even sure he’s qualified to be the next president of the United States. And so you can’t be asking us to support somebody that’s not perhaps even qualified under our Constitution,” he said. “And I’m referring to the 14th Amendment.”
Of course, that’s a silly argument that Democrats are no doubt applauding.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is a rarely cited Civil War-era provision that bars individuals from holding office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson said that former President Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 likely violated the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and therefore disqualifies Trump from taking the nation’s top office ever again. https://t.co/tLooMwu199
— The Hill (@thehill) August 21, 2023
Trump has previously mocked Hutchinson by calling him “Ada” and contending that there’s no point in him running for the Republican nomination because “nobody knows who the hell he is.”
WATCH: Trump on @AsaHutchinson’s presidential campaign: “I call him Ada Hutchinson, I don’t call him Asa — I gave him a little name — for certain reasons. This guy, nobody knows who the hell he is.”pic.twitter.com/GOUJYRq1bb
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 2, 2023
To be fair, nobody knows who Perry Johnson is either, but the RNC may learn a thing or two about him in the coming days, as he has threatened to sue over the supposedly rigged debate.
“It is clear that from the beginning, the RNC knew who they wanted on the stage and who they wanted to ban from the stage,” he said.
“Simply put, this is a flawed decision of a poorly run process of a corrupt organization,” Johnson added. “This morning, I am working with my team to take legal action against the RNC.”
Trump, the leading contender for the nomination, has opted to skip the debate and instead participate in a prerecorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
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