Debate-related statement GOP says every US Republican presidential candidate must sign; what does it say & what happens if they don't sign or comply?
The Guardian's April 14 2022 Republican party withdraws from US Commission on Presidential Debates begins:
The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, saying the group that has run the debates for decades was biased and refused to enact reforms.
“We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” the committee’s chairperson, Ronna McDaniel, said in a statement.
The RNC’s action requires Republican candidates to agree in writing to appear only in primary and general election debates sanctioned by the committee.
See also Reuters' April 14, 2022 Republican Party withdraws from U.S. commission on presidential debates
I have several very tightly related questions that probably don't deserve to be broken out into four separate questions and are likely to be answerable at the same time using the same sources and don't require separate answers:
Questions:
- What does the statement each Republican presidential candidate must sign say exactly?
- What (if anything) can the RNC do to force every Republican presidential candidate to sign?
- What if a candidate signs but then breaks the agreement in some way, what (if any) penalties can the RNC threaten to keep its candidates from debating on non committee-sanctioned platforms?
- What exactly constitutes an actual debate according to the statement the RNC requires?
