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FORKEN | Question Candidates, Not Questioners
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On Sunday night, representatives from 13 Republican presidential campaigns — staff from the Carly Fiorina team was absent — met in Virginia to discuss the format of future debates and to decide whether the Republican National Committee would have any role in the proceedings. The assembly culminated after days of backlash ensuing CNBC’s handling of the Republican debate last week. During the debate, Ted Cruz slammed the moderators as untrustworthy while Marco Rubio panned journalist John Harwood for misrepresenting his tax plan. Chris Christie found a breakout moment in questioning the legitimacy of questions surrounding a billion-dollar unregulated betting industry. The resulting demands from the campaign summit were sent out to future debate hosts, including Fox Business Network and CNN, without input from the RNC, which had previously managed debate criteria and logistics.