Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday morning tore into the Republican National Committee’s attempt to manage the Republican presidential debates for the 2016 cycle, arguing that the debate formats have been hurting the party.
“I think the Republican Party is becoming the loser here. We’ve got talented candidates. The process is not bringing out the best in the party. The RNC is trying to correct the last cycle’s problem of too many debates. They’ve overdone it. They’re micromanaging the process,” Graham said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I don’t think the RNC could run a one-card funeral. This is getting pretty bad.”
Graham suggested that the RNC mix up the frontrunners with the candidates lower in the polls for two debates with the same number of candidates.
“This micromanaging, trying to knock people out based on national polls is hurting New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina,” Graham said.
Following the debates, numerous candidates complained about the CNBC moderators and RNC management of the debates. Ben Carson’s campaign manager plans on calling other campaigns and assemble a group of candidates to confront the RNC over the debate formats.
Watch Graham’s interview via MSNBC:
