Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t back down from a political fight.
He stood up to the Republican National Committee meddling in the Primary.
And the GOP establishment waved the white flag of surrender in this fight with Ron DeSantis.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is trying to tightly control the Republican Presidential Primary process.
An influential evangelical group in Iowa planned to hold a candidate forum in Iowa for GOP contenders.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley were invited to the FAMiLY Leader’s Thanksgiving Family Forum.
The FAMiLY Leader is a pro-family, evangelical group led by influential Iowa conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats.
Vander Plaats has been critical of Trump and has praised DeSantis leading to speculation that he could endorse the Florida Governor.
The RNC stepped in to threaten candidates who attended the FAMiLY Leader event for potentially taking part in an unsanctioned debate which is against GOP rules.
Participants would be banned from taking part in any upcoming official Primary debates according to the RNC.
“It has come to the attention of the RNC Counsel’s Office that several Republican Presidential candidates have been invited to participate in an open-press event in Iowa in November at which they would ‘gather around the table to have a moderated, friendly, and open discussion about the issues.’ In other words, a debate,” the RNC Counsel’s Office wrote.
The RNC reminded candidates that they signed a pledge to participate in only RNC-sanctioned debates and would forfeit their right to attend future RNC-sponsored debates.
The FAMiLY Leader wasn’t a debate but a forum where each of the candidates would speak to attendees.
DeSantis came out firing at the decision by the RNC to label the candidate forum a debate by saying he was attending it despite the threat of disqualification from future debates.
“I’m going to be there at The FAMiLY Leader. I think it’s an important part of this process,” DeSantis wrote on social media. “There’s no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate. I’ll be here no matter what happens.”
The Florida Governor also accused the RNC of trying to shut down the event to help Trump.
“Bob Vander Plaats is someone that’s been very outspoken, that Donald Trump is not the way forward for the party. And because of that, I think there’s been pressure from Trump’s camp on the RNC to try to do something to stop it,” DeSantis said. “But if I have an opportunity to speak to Iowans about issues that matter to them, I’m going to show up.”
DeSantis wondered why the RNC would “be doing the bidding of somebody who not only didn’t show up to the last debate but counter programmed a rally.”
The RNC backed off labeling the FAMiLY Leader forum as a debate after the Florida Governor stood up to them.
GOP candidates were given the green light to attend the forum after Ron DeSantis refused to back down.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
