Newsmax: The RNC Priced Us Out Of Hosting Debate

Axios reports:

After Fox News and Fox Business hosted the first two debates, the RNC proposed that Newsmax co-sponsor the third debate as the junior partner to ABC News, four people familiar with the matter told Axios. Newsmax executives were wary of being a junior partner with a mainstream media outlet, and thought the $2 million co-sponsor fee the RNC required Newsmax spend on the event was unnecessarily expensive.

The RNC also approached Newsmax about being the primary sponsor for the upcoming fourth GOP debate — which will be Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. — and would have required Newsmax to spend about $4 million producing the debate. The Newsmax execs fumed when the RNC announced last month that NewsNation would sponsor the fourth debate; Newsmax was still looking for an additional sponsor to split the costs.

Read the full article. Per Axios, Newsmax execs say Ronna McDaniel “consistently lied and obfuscated” about hosting a debate so that the events would be run by “anti-Trump” outlets. Like Fox?

Scoop: Newsmax is clashing with the Republican National Committee after the conservative, Trump-friendly channel wasn’t able to co-sponsor one of the first four GOP presidential primary debates.https://t.co/WYbGktqE8j

— Axios (@axios) December 2, 2023