Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Ric Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, have joined a growing list of Republicans urging the Republican National Committee to cancel its remaining slate of presidential primary debates.
The calls come after the RNC's first debate with Fox News in Milwaukee drew more than 50% fewer viewers than the first debate of the 2016 race. That debacle was followed by Fox Business' second debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., which drew the smallest TV audience since 2015.
Former President Donald Trump, who skipped both debates, leads the GOP field by a wide margin, and his campaign staff issued a call this week for the RNC, headed by Ronna McDaniel, to cancel all future debates.
"The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats' efforts to steal the 2024 election," said a joint statement by Trump advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
Gingrich has been the highest-profile Republican so far to call to abandon the debates.
"I think the Republican National Committee should cancel the future debates and say, 'Look, we recognize the objective fact that Trump will be the nominee. We want to work with him,'" Gingrich said on Fox News last week.
"In some of these races, some of these polls, Trump is like 43 points ahead of the next person. 43 points," Gingrich added. "He's going to be the nominee."
A Morning Consult poll on Tuesday showed Trump leading his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by 48 percentage points, down three points from the previous week. But other polls released in the past two weeks show Trump ahead by anywhere from 30 to 52 points.
A third RNC debate is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami.
"It is clear the primary is over, when you look at the support Donald Trump is getting," Grenell told Newsmax, joining others in calling for the debates to be canceled.
Grenell was ambassador to Germany and the acting Director of National Intelligence under Trump. He currently advises Trump on his reelection campaign.
"It's time for the Republicans to unite against Joe Biden," he said.
The RNC did not immediately respond to a Newsmax request for comment.