The Republican candidates were quick to criticize the CNBC moderators after Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate, but some are now looking to the Republican National Committee to make changes in the future.
Ben Carson’s campaign manager, Barry Bennett, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday night that he plans on contacting other campaigns about issues with the debate formats.
“I think the families need to get together here, because these debates as structured by the RNC are not helping the party,” Bennett told the Examiner. “There’s not enough time to talk about your plans, there’s no presentation. It’s just a slugfest. All we do is change moderators. And the trendline is horrific. So I think there needs to be wholesale change here.”
Bennett said he plans on calling campaign representatives for Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump in an effort to rally a few campaigns to confront the Republican National Committee.
“I think at this point, if five or six of us get together, who generate the largest portion of the audience, we can force change,” he said.
Candidate unhappiness about the debate formats has been brewing for a while. Ahead of the CNBC debate, Carson and Trump threatened to back out of the debate unless the network enforced a time limit and allowed opening and closing statements. Before the threat from the two current frontrunners, numerous campaigns complained to the RNC about the format in a chaotic phone call.
And just before the debate, several candidates made a fuss over the size of their green rooms at the venue for the CNBC debate.
