Donald Trump made a bold statement earlier this week when he threatened to be absent from the next Republican debate scheduled for October 28 on CNBC. Of course, though we are accustomed to the unique brand of arrogance that is Trump, we understand that he cannot always get his way. Right?
Well, not in this case. Donald Trump, who went into the second Republican debate as the top contender and remained in the top afterwards, was unhappy with the new formatting from CNBC. He was not the only one.
The Republican debate that took place last month at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California was criticized for a couple of reasons, most notably the long length. At three hours long, the general consensus seemed to be that the last hour was unneeded, and, in fact, seemed to do the campaigns more harm than good.
According to Politico , the Republican National Committee has been collaborating with CNBC regarding the format of the upcoming event. Tempers were sparked following conference calls on Wednesday and Thursday, when campaigns learned that the presidential hopefuls would not be allowed to give neither opening or closing statements. None of the campaigns were pleased with this news, and both Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson refused to attend if CNBC did not change some key components.
Specifically, Donald Trump demanded the debate last no more than two hours, and opening, as well as closing statements for each candidate, would be allowed. The Trump and Carson campaigns joined forces in protest against CNBC in what they consider to be unfair rules for the upcoming event.
Perhaps the most offensive is the fact that all campaigns were told that they had agreed to these rules, when they most certainly had not. The most vehement protest came from Trump and Carson, whose campaigns worked in conjunction with each other to pen a letter to CNBC Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Cuddy.
Donald Trump’s campaign member, Michael Glassner, along with the Carson campaign member Ed Brookover, assertively portrayed their candidates’ wishes within the letter to CNBC.
“Neither Mr. Trump or Dr. Carson will participate in your debate if it is longer than 120 minutes including commercials and does not include opening and closing statements.”
Trump & Carson threaten to boycott the next debate. Good or bad idea? Why are they worried? http://t.co/Eonx261LN0 pic.twitter.com/DtQFq805pt
— The View (@TheView) October 16, 2015
. @CNBC is pushing the @GOP around by asking for extra time (and no criteria) in order to sell more commercials.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2015
According to NBC News , CNBC spokesman Brian Steel said the requests made by Trump were being considered.
“Our goal is to host the most substantive debate. Our practice in the past has been to forego opening statements to quickly address the critical issues that matter most to the American people. We started a dialogue yesterday with all of the campaigns involved and we will certainly take the candidates’ views on the format into consideration as we finalize the debate structure.”
This morning, CNBC released word that they had amended the rules to cap the debate at two hours. The decision on opening and closing statements has not yet been released.
. @CNBC has just agreed that the debate will be TWO HOURS. Fantastic news for all, especially the millions of people who will be watching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2015
What do you think about the firm stand Donald Trump has taken against CNBC?
[Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ]
