RNC suspends NBC partnership for February debate

The third Republican debate of the 2016 election, hosted by NBC.
(Image credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Responding to the highly criticized Republican primary debate on CNBC Wednesday evening, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus penned an open letter to parent network NBC, calling off their upcoming debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016. "The CNBC network is one of your media properties, and its handling of the debate was conducted in bad faith," the letter said. The criticism goes on:

CNBC billed the debate as one that would focus on "the key issues that matter to all voters — job growth, taxes, technology, retirement, and the health of our national economy." That was not the case. Before the debate, the candidates were promised an opening question on economic or financial matters. That was not the case. Candidates were promised that speaking time would be carefully monitored to ensure fairness. That was not the case. Questions were inaccurate or downright offensive. The first question directed to one of our candidates asked if he was running a comic book version of a presidential campaign, hardly in the spirit of how the debate was billed. [RNC]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.