The Republican National Committee is pulling the plug on NBC, after the network’s sister station botched a GOP debate this week.
“I write to inform you that pending further discussion between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and our presidential campaigns, we are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016” writes RNC chair Reince Priebus in a letter to NBC news president Andrew Lack.
The CNBC debate, moderated by Becky Quick, John Harwood, and Carl Quintanilla, was widely panned. Candidate Ted Cruz scored what was perhaps the line of the night when he unloaded on the biased and foolish questions the moderators were asking.
Priebus had promised change. After the debate, he told Fox:
I just can’t tell you how pissed off I am. … it was insanity, just sitting there seething through this thing. I mean, other than thinking about hitting the circuit breaker in the auditorium, it crossed my mind. These are people who put on a pretty decent show in the morning on CNBC. They did a debate four years ago that was a decent debate. Obviously, we had assurances that it was going to be straight up finance, which is what they do every day. And what was delivered was just nothing but a crap sandwich.
The RNC chair adds the organization plans to go ahead with a debate on that day, probably on a different network. His letter concludes:
While we are suspending our partnership with NBC News and its properties, we still fully intend to have a debate on that day, and will ensure that National Review remains part of it.
I will be working with our candidates to discuss how to move forward and will be in touch.
For its part, NBC calls the decision a “disappointing development.” It vows to “work in good faith to resolve this matter.” Stay tuned.