CNN announces Republican debate at New Hampshire college, but school says no event exists
RNC announces it will pause participation in future 2024 GOP debates
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN announced it would host an upcoming debate for Republican candidates at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire on January 21 with one glaring issue: the school did not appear to know about such an event.
"We were surprised to be included on a press release by a network about a debate which we had not planned or booked," Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm, wrote in a statement on X Friday.
New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Chris Ager was similarly perplexed, telling the New York Times that the announcement left him scratching his head. He also claimed that CNN still has not contacted him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The CNN thing came out and everybody’s like, ‘What the heck?'" he said.
CNN announced a January 21 Republican debate at Saint Anselm College, but the school seemingly had no knowledge of such an event and is already hosting a separate debate with ABC News on January 18. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell/Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ager did note that a separate debate is scheduled to occur on January 18 at Saint Anselm and will be hosted by ABC News. Both the college and state Republicans have approved the debate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We’ve been working for months planning with ABC. We’ve already done a run-through of the facility. We’ve agreed on a lot of the details," he said.
Ager also admitted that the announcement caught his team off guard, telling the New York Times, "For a big, professional organization like that, putting out a location on this date and the location doesn’t know — something’s not quite right."
When asked about the confusion, a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "We can’t speak to any miscommunication within Saint Anselm, but we are moving forward with our plans to host a debate in New Hampshire on January 21."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican presidential candidates (L-R), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) are introduced during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ager expressed concern about a second possible debate two days before the January 23 primary, claiming it would leave candidates with very little time to respond to significant onstage moments.
"In New Hampshire, we like to give everybody a fair shot as much as possible," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital also contacted the Republican National Committee (RNC) to help clarify the perplexing announcement but did not receive a response.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The RNC announced Friday it would pause its participation in future 2024 GOP primary debates, at least for now. Politico reported the RNC's decision meant any future debates will be hosted by networks independently of the committee. Media outlets therefore will determine benchmarks for participation in debates, not the RNC.
"We have held four successful debates across the country with the most conservative partners in the history of a Republican primary. We have no RNC debates scheduled in January and any debates currently scheduled are not affiliated with the RNC," the RNC’s Committee on Presidential Debates said in a statement. "It is now time for Republican primary voters to decide who will be our next President and candidates are free to use any forum or format to communicate to voters as they see fit."