Sean Spicer, the communications director for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said on Monday that the RNC will not let the mainstream media make “a mockery” of the GOP’s presidential nominating process and candidates in the 2016 election cycle.
Earlier on Monday, Breitbart News exclusively reported that the Republican National Committee sent letters to CNN and NBC notifying the networks that the RNC would not partner with them for presidential debates during the 2016 election cycle if they ran films about Hillary Clinton’s life that both networks announced they were producing.
Spicer said those letters were the first steps the RNC is taking to not only stand up for conservatives, but to ensure the mainstream media do not do irreparable harm to Republican candidates before the general election.
“We saw last cycle what happens when the the media takes control of our debate process,” Spicer said on the Wilkow Majority on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125 to guest host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon. “They try to take our candidates and try to embarrass them and muddy them up before the general election.”
Spicer emphasized that there was “no reason” former “Democratic operatives” that are in the “quote-unquote media” should be moderating debates. During the last cycle, George Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton’s former communications director who is now a mainstream media “journalist” for ABC, essentially started the “war on women” meme Democrats would use against Republicans during the 2012 election. Stephanopoulos inserted a question about birth control to Republican presidential candidates during a debate in New Hampshire in January of 2012, even though that topic was not something discussed leading up to the event.
Spicer said it was “ridiculous” that CNN and NBC would air movies that are trying to “pump up a candidate” in Clinton, whom both networks are interested in giving a “leg up” in a potential presidential run.
Regarding the potential airing of the Hillary Clinton movies, Spicer said the RNC’s message to the mainstream press would be, “You have a First Amendment right to do that and we have a First Amendment right, and we are going to exercise ours by saying, ‘if you go ahead and air these documentaries then don’t count on us or our state parties to partner with you or sponsor any debates on your network in the 2016 elections.'”
Spicer also said states that hold early nominating contests–Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina–are backing the RNC’s move as well, so the mainstream media will not be able to go around the RNC and partner directly with state parties to host debates.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.