RNC warns Christie and Ramaswamy not to hold joint Fox News segment

The Republican National Committee told former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy Monday night that if they went through with a separate joint appearance on Fox News they would be forbidden from participating in subsequent committee-sanctioned debates.

The warning, relayed to POLITICO by a person familiar with the conversations, had an effect. The candidates and network have decided to change up the format. Instead of appearing side-by-side, they will now sit for two separate, back-to-back segments. The RNC approved of the new format, according to another person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it freely.

The RNC has explicitly forbidden candidates from participating in non-sanctioned debates, though it is not always entirely clear where the line is drawn. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is slated to debate California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Fox News, but it is believed that such a head-to-head doesn’t violate the committee’s rules as it is not explicitly a GOP primary forum.

The RNC’s warnings on Monday came after Christie and Ramaswamy each posted about their dual appearance on host Bret Baier’s Fox News 6 p.m. program Tuesday evening, describing it as an opportunity to have the type of substantive exchange that the committee-sanctioned debates have lacked.

“The GOP needs more actual argument on substance, not fake one-liners. I agreed to spar with @ChrisChristie tomorrow for a full hour on Fox at 6pm with @BretBaier,” posted Ramaswamy on X.

A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokesperson for the RNC declined to comment.

"It is very disappointing that we were threatened with exclusion from the Miami debate and future debates for trying to have a more complete dialogue with each other and the voters. Every campaign was offered that opportunity by Fox News and they have now been effectively banned by the RNC," Christie posted on X after publication of this story.

Ramaswamy said in a written statement that the RNC was orchestrating a "broken process."

“Last week’s RNC debate was a disgrace, and I’m starting to believe that was by design," he said. "This is what a brokered & rigged nomination process looks like. I disagree like hell with Chris Christie but when they asked me to face off with him, I said I’d be a man & do it - before the RNC intervened to cut it off. Instead of allowing open dialogue & the airing of ideas to give primary voters a real choice, the Establishment would rather cut backroom deals & offer up phony debates including candidates with no viable path and questions that no voter would ever ask. The Establishment was hellbent on taking down Trump. Now they’re hellbent on propping up their favored puppets. We won’t let them get away with it."

The announcement of the Christie and Ramaswamy Fox debate gave an opening for the Trump campaign to further their calls for the RNC to cancel the third debate altogether. Trump and his campaign have cited Trump’s dominance in the polls as their reason for him not participating. Trump has said he will not debate in the GOP primary, after having skipped the first two.

Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement the RNC should “immediately cancel” the third debate in Miami scheduled for early November in order “to refocus its manpower and money to preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election.”

“Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election,” the statement said.

LaCivita told reporters after the second debate that Trump had no plans to participate in the third GOP primary debate. The RNC and Trump campaign have not had discussions about the former president coming.

“These debates don’t matter, they’re not accomplishing anything,” said an adviser to Trump. “RNC is spending a lot of time, effort and money putting together these big shows. It’s like putting together a big wedding and the bride never shows up."

A person familiar with the RNC debates said that regardless of what Trump decides to do, the third debate will still go on.