Republican Presidential Candidate Sues RNC To Stop The Primary Debate - 'The Rules Of The Game Were Rigged'

On Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Larry Elder announced that he would be suing the Republican National Committee after it refused to allow him on the debate stage after he was able to meet the requirements set to make it to the stage.

"I intend to sue the RNC to halt Wednesday's presidential debate," Elder wrote. "I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage. Just as I had to fight to successfully be on the ballot in the California recall election, I will fight to be on that debate stage because I fully met all of the requirements to do so."

The requirements set by the RNC include a candidate needing to meet the 40,000 donor threshold, have 200 donors in at least 20 states, get at least one percent in select polls, sign the loyalty pledge that requires candidates to support the eventual Republican nominee, and agreeing for the RNC to view the campaign's WinRed fundraising numbers.

"Only after receiving our completed qualification package, did the RNC inform us that they were not accepting Rasmussen Polls as qualifying toward the debate," Elder's campaign wrote. "The reason, as stated by the RNC, is that Rasmussen Polls have ties to former President Donald Trump - an individual who is not even participating in the upcoming debate."

"Larry Elder has no knowledge about whether Donald Trump has ever worked with Rasmussen previously," the campaign continued. "In fact, Rasmussen Polls is a reputable, nationally-recognized firm and one of only THREE polling firms who accurately predicted the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election (along with the Trafalgar Group.)"

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake took to X to support Elder, writing, "I just hung up with Larry Elder and he tells me that the RNC will not allow him at the debate. He has three polls showing him over 1% which would qualify him, but he’s been told that one of the polls may have been affiliated with Trump so they won’t accept it." 

"Larry is an important voice. He speaks eloquently about school choice and education freedom—more so than anybody I know," she explained. "We need Larry Elder’s voice at the Republican debate." 

The candidates who made the debate stage include Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Gov. Doug Burgam (R-ND), former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR).

The candidates who did not make the debate include former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and businessman Ryan Binkley.

Other candidates have also called out the RNC for their requirements with Perry Johnson writing, "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."

Whether or not the RNC relinquishes to Larry Elder has yet to be seen. The fact that former Gov. Asa Hutchinson made the stage is surprising when a somewhat well-known candidate like Elder was refused entry. Come Wednesday, there could very well be nine podiums rather than eight.

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