A rigged RNC is unfit to lead the GOP. That’s why I’m fighting back

OPINION:

The first Republican primary debate will be held tonight, as voters begin to narrow down the field for themselves. But a robust debate, voters will neither see nor hear. Numerous presidential candidates will be missing from the debate stage for no good reason, myself included.

Due to the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) rigged rules on debate participation, the RNC has essentially taken it upon itself to take power out of Republican voters’ hands and seize it for themselves, deciding unilaterally which candidates deserve to be on the stage or not. From the beginning, I have argued that the RNC’s artificial, arbitrary limits on free speech—imposed by establishment Republicans in the Washington swamp—are bad for the party and bad for American voters. The rules have appeared to be rigged for months, but even candidates like me didn’t know the full extent of the rigging.

Here’s what happened: Earlier this year, the RNC set a requirement for candidates of at least 40,000 individual donors, including 200 donors in 20 states. To clear the bar, the RNC also required candidates to register at least one percent support in select polling, providing detailed cross tabs of such polls. Then there was the “Beat Biden” loyalty pledge, which needed to be signed as a declaration of support for the eventual Republican nominee, whoever it may be. And on top of that, there was the agreement to allow the RNC to view every candidate’s WinRed fundraising totals, among other legal hurdles.

Does that all sound a bit ridiculous? You bet.

Nevertheless, as of this past Monday, I met or exceeded all of the RNC’s onerous limits. From attracting more than 40,000 individual donors in at least 37 states (almost double the requirement) to hitting the key polling metrics and signing the RNC’s loyalty pledge, my campaign passed each and every test that came our way. We worked around the clock, and we got the job done.

But it still wasn’t good enough for a Washington swamp run by Beltway elites seeking to decide the 2024 election by themselves. Only after receiving our completed qualification package did the RNC inform my campaign that Rasmussen polling—just one of our necessary polls—didn’t count toward meeting the requirement. The reason, as stated by the RNC, is that Rasmussen Polls have ties to Donald Trump, who isn’t even participating in the debate. Neither myself nor my campaign had knowledge that Trump had ever worked with Rasmussen before, nor did we know that it would even matter.

Let’s be clear: The Rasmussen detail is just an excuse. Our supporters were tricked. The RNC is clearly just hoping to restrict debate participation and rig the game in favor of establishment candidates. Establishment Republicans in power are trying to hit back against not only Trump (and his supporters), but also other “America First” Republicans who only want a chance to debate the issues with their fellow candidates. Washington, D.C. insiders are blatantly lying to keep America First candidates off the stage.

This will not stand. I may not be on the debate stage tonight despite doing enough to qualify, but my fight goes on. My fight to save our country was never about appeasing a corrupt RNC; it has always been about beating Joe Biden, rolling back Democrat policies, and leading our nation into a new American Golden Age.

If the RNC will join Democrats in undermining America First candidates, we will not be silenced. That’s why I am now filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the RNC, exposing the establishment’s lies for all to see. Republicans need to know that the RNC is rigging the game—at their expense, at the expense of the party. Even beyond the Republican Party, American voters must understand that the RNC is posing a direct threat to the democratic process. This RNC is simply unfit to lead anything, let alone one of America’s two major political parties.

Rest assured: The establishment elites who stand in the way of real conservatives will not go unchecked. The fight will go on—for our party and America.

• Larry Elder is a 2024 Republican candidate for president of the United States. His latest book, out in November, is “As Goes California: My Mission to Rescue the Golden State and Save the Nation.”