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This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire<\/a><\/p>\n By Philip Wegmann The Iowa Family Leader and the Republican National Committee are at an impasse.<\/p>\n When the influential evangelical organization invited each of the 2024 GOP presidential candidates to attend its Thanksgiving forum, the Republican National Committee quietly warned the campaigns that participating in the event would disqualify them from all future sanctioned debates, RealClearPolitics was first to report.<\/a><\/p>\n Regardless, the Iowa Family Leader doesn\u2019t have plans to reschedule or reformat. \u201cWe are going to move forward with the forum,\u201d said Bob Vander Plaats, the president and CEO of the organization.<\/p>\n The issue is what exactly constitutes a debate. According to the RNC counsel, the forum is an unsanctioned debate,<\/em> and participating in the event would violate the pledge candidates signed in order to participate in the sanctioned debates. <\/em><\/p>\n According to Vander Plaats, who characterized all his conversations with the RNC as \u201camiable,\u201d this is nonsense. \u201cFirst of all, this is not a debate, not even close,\u201d he told RCP in a Thursday morning interview, noting how his organization previously hosted primary candidates in 2012 and 2016 without incident. Rather than standing behind podiums, attendees sit around the same table. And rather than exchanging barbs, in past years, they\u2019ve talked about their faith.<\/p>\n The rules are simple. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk negative about anybody at the table,\u201d he said. And the upside is obvious. \u201cIt would be good to show how a modern team of rivals can sit at a table together and have an adult conversation about the future of the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Vander Plaats said three candidates already confirmed they would attend, the Des Moines Register was first to report.<\/a> He repeated that list in an interview with RCP: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and Vivek Ramaswamy. None, however, would confirm their plans.<\/p>\n The Scott campaign did not return a request for comment. The DeSantis campaign declined to comment, though the governor\u2019s campaign manager, James Uthmeier, previously told RCP that he found it \u201ca little bit odd\u201d that \u201cthe RNC would suddenly feel threatened by that event when it has happened in so many prior races.\u201d<\/p>\n A Ramaswamy spokeswoman told RCP that their campaign remains \u201chopeful that the RNC and Family Leader will be able to work out their logistical issues to best serve the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n Underscoring the drama over whether to break bread with Vander Plaats is the weight of his endorsement. He has a history of picking winners in Iowa. He backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in 2012, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008. Each won the caucuses there but fell short of the Republican nomination.<\/p>\n One candidate who will not receive his support this year: Donald Trump. Like some social conservatives, Vander Plaats has previously said he appreciates the achievements of the former president, such as appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade,<\/em> but he is \u201cexhausted\u201d by Trump\u2019s relentless rhetoric.<\/p>\n \u201cIowa is tailor-made to upend Trump,\u201d Vander Plaats told CNN in September. \u201cIf he loses Iowa, there\u2019s a competitive nomination process. If he wins Iowa, I think it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n Unless the Republican Party brass relents, the evangelical warned, the party could accidentally upend the entire process. If the RNC disqualifies candidates who attend his forum, he warned, \u201cI think you just squelched all your debates.\u201d<\/p>\n When RCP first broke the news of the RNC red line, some on the right reacted<\/a> by accusing the party of favoring Trump by keeping the competition from participating in an advantageous opportunity. \u201cI think they would want to make sure they do everything in their power to make sure they\u2019re not putting their finger on the scale for the former president,\u201d Vander Plaats said when asked about that criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that said, I\u2019m not into Republican Party politics, but I think the Republican Party could use a win,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018We the People,\u2019 and the RNC is coming back saying \u2018No, it\u2019s we the party or we the process.\u2019 It makes no sense to me,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n The post Vander Plaats Won\u2019t Cancel Iowa Forum Despite RNC Warning<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire By Philip Wegmann Real Clear Wire The Iowa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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