The RNC is severing ties with the nonprofit that runs presidential debates

The RNC is severing² ties with the nonprofit that runs presidential debates

Transcript³

The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, calling the organization biased⁵.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

General election presidential debates could be over or at least general election presidential debates that are organized in the way that we have known in recent decades. Yesterday, the Republican National Committee voted to withdraw from the nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates, which has run debates since the '80s. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has watched many of those debates and is with us now. Good morning.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE⁶: Hey, good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What happened here?

MONTANARO: Well, the RNC decided⁷ Thursday to sever¹ ties with this debate commission. They'll now be requiring all presidential candidates to say in writing that they'll only take part in debates OK'd by the RNC. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel charges that the commission has been unfair on choices of moderators, timing⁸ of debates and that the commission won't agree to reforms that Republicans want. Here's what she said at the RNC's winter meeting earlier this year about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RONNA MCDANIEL: The Republican Party deserves better. The American people deserve better because we know - we all know this - that if we have a free and fair forum⁹, we win because our policies are the best for the American people.

MONTANARO: Now, I reached out to the debate commission for comment, but they're not commenting yet. In response in January to the RNC's threat to do this, the commission did say that it would be dealing¹⁰ directly with candidates and that their plans for 2024 would be, quote, "based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues."

INSKEEP: You know, when I heard this news yesterday, Domenico, my first question was whether this was driven by Donald Trump¹¹ because he completely dominates the party. The RNC chair is someone who literally¹² changed her name for Trump's convenience. So was this driven by Trump?

MONTANARO: It's because she's Mitt⁴ Romney's niece, and Romney is in the middle of it. Yeah, but...

INSKEEP: True.

MONTANARO: ...Republicans have had problems with the commission since at least 2012 when then-party nominee¹³ Mitt Romney was fact-checked in real time. But Trump has really been the catalyst¹⁴ for what's happening here. And, you know, in 2020, he attacked moderators in the commission which he accused of being stacked with Trump haters, continuously interrupted in those debates, violated the rules of decorum but accused the commission of shutting off microphones, veering¹⁵ off from topics that he says were supposed to be the focus. The commission's co-chair, Frank Fahrenkopf, said, at the time, that's not what was happening at all and defended the commission before the second general election debate in 2020 this way on MSNBC.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FRANK FAHRENKOPF: We are nonpartisan. We're doing something that we think is in the best interest of the American people to get some order in this debate, that it'll hopefully enforce the rules so that they can hear the candidates without interruption and get to learn where they are on these issues that are so important going into this election.

MONTANARO: And Fahrenkopf has been involved with the commission since its inception¹⁶, and he's ironically a Republican and a former chairman of the RNC himself. It just shows you how much this party has really changed over the years. And the reality here - in politics, if people are complaining about debates, they're usually the ones losing. And at that point in 2020, Trump was really struggling in the polls and needed a boost.

INSKEEP: OK. So he was complaining then. People are complaining now. Are presidential debates, as we know them, dead?

MONTANARO: Not necessarily. RNC chair McDaniel said that she wants debates, just not with this commission. Ultimately, it's going to be up to the candidates. There's no incentive¹⁷, really, for the candidates to cross the RNC, though. And, you know, broadcast networks run party-sanctioned debates in primaries. So they can just move to that model in the general election. But it's still going to take candidates to agree on rules, moderators and which network will run it, so lots to be decided here.

INSKEEP: NPR's Domenico Montanaro, thanks.

MONTANARO: You're welcome.

1 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

2 severing   

v.切断，断绝( sever的现在分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The death of a second parent is like severing an umbilical cord to our past. 父母当中第二个人去世，就象斩断了把我们同过去联在一起的纽带。 来自辞典例句
• The severing theory and severing method for brittle block are studied. 研究裂纹技术应用于分离脆性块体的分离理论和分离方法。 来自互联网

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

5 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

9 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

14 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

15 veering   

n.改变的；犹豫的；顺时针方向转向；特指使船尾转向上风来改变航向v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的现在分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• Anyone veering too close to the convoys risks being shot. 任何人改变方向，过于接近车队就有遭枪击的风险。 来自互联网
• The little boat kept veering from its course in such a turbulent river. 小船在这湍急的河中总是改变方向。 来自互联网

16 inception   

n.开端，开始，取得学位

参考例句：

• The programme has been successful since its inception.这个方案自开始实施以来一直卓有成效。
• Julia's worked for that company from its inception.自从那家公司开办以来，朱莉娅一直在那儿工作。

17 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。