Politics

Republicans Hope Fourth RNC Debate With Conservative Hosts, Moderators Will Deliver For Base Voters

Smaller Group Of Candidates Attends Third GOP Presidential Debate

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Reagan Reese White House Correspondent
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) wasted no time after the third presidential debate, immediately looking forward to the fourth forum which it announced Thursday would be hosted by News Nation, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” The Washington Free Beacon and Rumble.

The fourth debate hosts and its moderators, News Nation’s Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly and Washington Free Beacon Editor-In-Chief Eliana Johnson, are a pivot in a different direction from the first three which were hosted by mainstream media outlets, Fox News, Fox Business and NBC News. The RNC previously faced criticism for its decision to give the first debates to Fox News and NBC despite previously promising to use the events to “raise” conservative media up.

Less than a month away, Republicans told the Daily Caller they are excited about the RNC’s fourth debate, adding that they believe the next event will allow presidential candidates to get their message in front of base voters.

“Yeah, I am excited. I think, again, what we want to try and do is make sure that we’re giving as many platforms as we can to get these candidates out in front of as many voters as they can to be able to deliver their message,” North Carolina RNC Chairman Michael Whatley told the Daily Caller, adding that he thought the night’s moderators, NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker did a “great job” alongside Salem’s Hugh Hewitt and the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Matt Jones.

In partnership with the hosts of the first three debates, the RNC chose Young America’s Foundation, Rumble, the Republican Jewish Coalition, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Salem Radio News and Univision to be involved in the debates.

But one particular partner came under fire in the second debate. Prominent conservative media personalities criticized the partnership with Univision after the station’s own Ilia Calderón asked the candidates about LGBTQ discrimination and racism. The criticism circled the theme that Calderón was failing to ask questions that mattered to Republican voters during a GOP primary presidential debate.

After the second debate, conservative outlets outside of the mainstream media told the Daily Caller they were frustrated with the RNC’s application process to host a debate. The outlets, granted anonymity to speak freely about their conversations with the RNC, told the Daily Caller they felt overlooked in favor of more prominent outlets.

The frustration in part was because the RNC and the chairman of its Temporary Committee on Presidential Debates, David Bossie, had previously promised in 2022 that the debates wouldn’t go to the “same old” outlets and would rather be used to build “conservative media up.”

“The RNC Debates Committee has said from the beginning of the process that every debate would have conservative partners,” Anna Kelly, the RNC’s national press secretary, told the Daily Caller. “Every debate has involved conservative voices having a seat at the table and asking questions, and we look forward to continuing that next month in December with our fourth debate partners.”

The RNC unveiled NBC as the host of the third debate in partnership with Salem Radio News in October. An RNC spokesperson previously told the Daily Caller that they do not pick the moderators but rather the hosts of the debate do. More frustration came in reaction to the RNC’s pick from GOP operatives who questioned whether the NBC debate hosted much purpose.

“I don’t think that people that are openly combative to the conservative cause should be hosting a debate with our primary contestants,” Evan Power, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, told the Daily Caller. “I just don’t think it’s in the best interest of the party. I think that Meet the Press now under that new leadership is very, very hostile to anyone who’s a conservative that comes on the show. I just don’t think that’s the people that should be asking the questions of our candidates.”

In the coming months leading up to the third presidential debate, an RNC spokesperson previously noted to the Daily Caller that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott have all appeared on Welker’s show “Meet the Press.”

For the most part, Holt and Welker refrained from asking questions from a liberal perspective, instead, the moderators of the third debate kept things moving, hardly ever allowing the candidates to respond to attacks or refute each other. Each moderator seemed to follow the same format throughout the third debate — ask an initial question of a candidate and allow each hopeful to answer before changing topics. (RELATED: Barring A Few Fiery Moments, RNC’s Third ‘Debate’ Looked More Like A TED Talk)

“I think the real sin of yesterday’s debate is, if we would have had real, legit conservative moderators, we could’ve dug into the issues that the primary voters actually care about,” Tyler Bowyer, Arizona’s national committeeman, told the Daily Caller, continuing to say that the debate was a “waste of time.”

But for some, the tame format was well received and more pleasant to watch.

“NBC News did a much better job maintaining control of this debate than Fox News did with their debates and they did a better job keeping things on track and on topic,” Ryan Saavedra, a senior reporter for the Daily Wire, tweeted.

“I am very supportive of the Republican Party’s debate process, and giving both the candidates and voters the chance to hear new ideas and how they may relate to voters. Every candidate is different and has a unique perspective,” Nevada GOP Chairman Michael J. McDonald said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “I think an open debate platform makes us stronger as a society and as a party.”

After the first three, the RNC’s announcement about its fourth debate partners has been relatively well received by Republicans, who praised the move to ditch establishment media in favor of smaller, right-leaning platforms.

“Partnering with media outlets outside of the traditional cable news giants for the fourth debate is, in my view, a welcome continuation of this approach,” RNC member and Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “It’s a phenomenal way to make sure that we’re capturing and exposing our candidates to all voices and perspectives within the Republican movement.”

Gordon Kinne, the national committeeman from Missouri who serves on the RNC debate committee, told the Daily Caller that the group is working to choose organizations from all over the media spectrum to reach different audiences.

“We’ve been trying to cover a bigger spectrum as you can of the various factions of the populace that are out there and where they come from. Of course, Megyn still has a pretty good following. And [News Nation and the Washington Free Beacon] both are all kind of conservative organizations,” Kinne told the Daily Caller, including that the outlets chosen so far are ones who approached the RNC and showed interest in hosting a debate.

Kelly has moderated five GOP presidential primary debates, including one in the 2016 election cycle which still remains the most-watched presidential primary debate. News Nation, which notes that it is the fastest-growing network in primetime cable news, brought in about 63,000 viewers per night during 2022 and has touted itself as taking a straightforward approach to its news coverage, according to The Washington Post.

“It will be the margarita of debates — spicy, fun and somewhat intoxicating,” Kelly said in a press release.