Republican frontrunners Larry Elder and Perry Johnson on Tuesday threatened to sue the Republican National Committee to stop Wednesday night’s debate, claiming they met the requirements to appear on the stage.
Elder said Tuesday that he has the required 40,000 individual donors, including 200 from 20 states, and that he has met the RNC’s polling requirement of at least 1 percent support in three national polls, or 1 percent in two national polls and two polls out of one early competition to get state.
The radio show’s conservative host, who lost to California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2021 general election, said the Rasmussen polls he submitted to the RNC were scrapped because of the company’s “ties to former President Donald Trump.”
“I intend to sue the RNC to stop Wednesday’s presidential debate,” Elder wrote on Twitter. “I said from the start that it seemed that the rules of the game were rigged. We didn’t realize how rigged it was.”
The RNC countered in a statement, in the words of spokesman Keith Schipper, “The RNC has worked for two years to ensure a transparent and fair primary process that will put our prospective candidate in the best position to beat Biden.”
Republican frontrunners Larry Elder (left) and Perry Johnson (right) on Tuesday threatened to sue the Republican National Committee to stop Wednesday night’s debate, claiming they met the requirements to perform on the stage
Elder posted on X, aka Twitter, that he intends to “sue” the Republican National Committee for not being involved in the first GOP debate
“The criteria for qualifying for the first debate were clearly laid out for campaigners, and RNC leadership and debate committee members were in constant communication with candidates and campaigners throughout the qualification period,” Schipper said.
A person familiar with the process said several of the Rasmussen polls submitted by Elder did not have the required sample size, while another was funded by a PAC affiliated with one of Trump’s PACs.
In his statement, Elder pointed out that Rasmussen was “one of only THREE polling firms that accurately predicted the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.”
Elder also said he had “no knowledge of whether Donald Trump previously worked with Rasmussen.”
“For some reason, the established leaders of the RNC are afraid to hear my voice on the debate stage,” Elder said. “Just as I had to fight to vote successfully in the California election to vote out of office, I will fight to participate in this debate because I have fully met all the requirements to do so.”
Elder wasn’t the only Republican hopeful to complain about being left out of the debate.
Johnson, a Michigan businessman who had previously attempted to run for state governor, also threatened legal action after being told he did not qualify for the first GOP debate.
Former MP Will Hurd also criticized the RNC’s election requirements after failing to make the cut. He reiterated Tuesday that he would not sign the RNC’s “blood oath on Donald Trump.”
“The corrupt and rigged RNC debate process has been a disaster from the start,” Johnson said in a statement. “Our campaign met all the criteria proposed by the RNC and we qualified for the debate.”
“It’s clear that the RNC knew from the start who they wanted on stage and who they wanted banned from the stage.” continued Johnson.
“This morning I’m working with my team to take legal action against the RNC,” he said.
Johnson had loaned more than $8 million to his presidential campaign, offering donors a $10 fuel card for a $1 donation to increase his donor numbers and thereby qualify for the first debate.
The source familiar with the process told that Johnson was just one poll away from qualifying for the debate stage.
He also didn’t check with the RNC if the polls counted — and one he included wasn’t technically a statewide poll, but only polled voters from about two-thirds of the states.
Former MP Will Hurd also criticized the RNC’s election requirements after failing to make the cut.
In a social media post Tuesday morning, the former Texas congressman said, “The RNC ignored polls that had independents and Democrats willing to vote for Republicans.”
“The lack of transparency and confusion surrounding the RNC’s debate requirements is at odds with the democratic process,” Hurd also said. “Election standards are arbitrary, unclear and inconsistent.”
While Elder signed the oath required by the RNC to eventually endorse the Republican nominee, Hurd — one of three anti-Trump Republican nominees — refused to oppose it.
He reiterated that point on Tuesday.
“I have said from day one of my candidacy that I will not swear a blood oath to Donald Trump,” Hurd said.
Also, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, another candidate who might not opt to vote, said he had met the demands of the debate — but he hadn’t.
Suarez said at the Iowa State Fair earlier this month that those who don’t qualify for the first debate should drop out.
“I agree that if you don’t meet minimum thresholds, you shouldn’t try to rob productivity of that time,” he said.
Later on Tuesday, Suarez “will make an announcement about the future of his campaign,” his spokesman told Bloomberg News.
Trump remains the front runner in the Republican presidential race and plans to skip Wednesday night’s debate in Milwaukee.
In the end, eight Republican candidates took the stage, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN ambassador. Nikki Scott, Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.