Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder says he was "shafted" by the Republican National Committee and will file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission after he was not allowed to participate in Wednesday night's primary debate.
"I met all the criteria — the 40,000 individual donations, three polls showing me at 1% or higher, and then, all of a sudden, I get a phone call from [RNC Chair] Ronna McDaniel and the debate czar, David Boss, and they say, 'Well, we can't use Rasmussen,'" Elder said. "I said, 'Why?' They said, 'Because it's affiliated with the Trump campaign,'" Elder said Wednesday on Newsmax.
"I said, 'Even if that's true, what does it have to do with my campaign?' 'Well, we're not using any poll affiliated with any campaign,' even though the RNC frequently quotes Rasmussen as the most accurate poll. ... I have been shafted," Elder said.
Elder, a radio talk show host, earlier this week said he believes the debate field was hand-picked by the RNC because it favors some candidates over others, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"I'm trying to use a word that I can use on the television," Elder said Wednesday. "I have been shafted, and my lawyer is the former chair of the federal elections commission, a former general counsel of the Republican senatorial committee, and he says that this essentially is tantamount to an in-kind contribution to the eight people that are there because they're violating the FEC's own rules for a debate.
"When you set rules for a debate, you need to objectively apply them to everybody, otherwise you're making an in-kind contribution to the eight candidates to my detriment.
"So, it's possible that the FEC could fine the RNC and Fox News for making an in-kind contribution to the tune of $100 million per and we gave them until 2:00 Central Time to put me up there in that debate stage, and if not we'll find a complaint with the FEC around 10:00 a.m. local time tomorrow morning."
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