GOP presidential candidate Larry Elder said Tuesday he'll sue the Republican National Committee for disqualifying his participation in the first presidential debate among 2024 contenders Wednesday.
In a statement, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, Elder blasted the decision as "rigged."
"I'm calling for a discussion and a vote of the full committee on the rigged polling criteria set by the anti-conservative, anti-Trump RNC establishment," the post declared.
In his statement, Elder, a conservative commentator and radio talk show host, asserted "little did we know just how rigged it is" — saying he was disqualified over his submission of polling by conservative Rasmussen Reports.
"Only after receiving our completed qualification package did the RNC inform us that they were not accepting Rasmussen Polls as qualifying toward the debate," Elder stated.
"The reason, as stated by the RNC, is that Rasmussen Polls have ties to former President Donald Trump — an individual who is not even participating in the upcoming debate," he said.
"Had the RNC notified the other campaigns that this was a problem, the Elder campaign could have made an effort to identify other qualifying polls," the statement charged. "Yet, we were not given the opportunity even though the RNC clearly was aware of their poll problem."
Elder said, however, "I will fight to be on that Debate stage because I fully met all of the requirements to do so."
In his statement, Elder laid out his case for qualification, ticking off benchmarks that not only proved he met the qualifications but exceeded them — including by amassing at least 40,000 individual donors, polling of at least 1% in select polls, signing the "Beat Biden" loyalty pledge to support the ultimate GOP nominee, and agreeing to allow the RNC to view fundraising totals.
According to Elder, his campaign is "preparing a legal challenge to the Debate qualification rules — specifically, the overly vague rules surrounding which polls, exactly, qualify a candidate for the Debate."
He pointed out it was not the first time he's sued "to participate in the process."
"During the recent California Recall election, Elder successfully made the ballot after a legal fight," the statement said.
Elder was expected to hold a news conference in Milwaukee later Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reported Mayor Francis Suarez — who launched his White House bid in June — also didn't meet the RNC criteria to participate in the Wednesday debate in Milwaukee.
The mayor, the only Hispanic in the GOP field, on Friday declared he had qualified by meeting the committee's polling and donor requirements. But RNC advisers confirmed at the time Suarez had not yet met the thresholds, the Miami Herald reported.
On Monday night, an announcement was made that he didn't hit the RNC bar to participate.
Suarez has previously said candidates who don't make the debate stages should drop out, but his campaign hadn't made any announcement as of early Tuesday, the news outlet reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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