[BREITBART] The Republican National Committee (RNC) officially voted on Monday afternoon to sever its business relationship with NBC News for the previously-scheduled Feb. 26, 2016, GOP presidential primary debate, Breitbart News has learned.The Debate Committee for the RNC met via conference call and after hearing updates from RNC chairman Reince Priebus officially voted to cancel the partnership with NBC, according to sources on the call. The vote was unanimous.
After the October debate hosted by NBC partner CNBC--in which co-moderator John Harwood was roundly criticized for a poor performance--the RNC suspended its relationship with NBC News over that upcoming Houston debate.
"I write to inform you that pending further discussion between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and our presidential campaigns, we are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016," Priebus wrote to NBC News chairman Andy Lack back in late October. "The RNC's sole role in the primary debate process is to ensure that our candidates are given a full and fair opportunity to lay out their vision for America's future. We simply cannot continue with NBC without full consultation with our campaigns."
In response, NBC News signaled in a statement at the time that it thought the situation could be resolved.
"This is a disappointing development," NBC News said in a statement. "However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
along with our debate broadcast partners at Telemundo we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party."
This process also sparked an unprecedented meeting of brass hats with almost every GOP presidential campaign, in which campaign managers represented most of the 2016 GOP candidates to fight for better representation in the debate process. Donald Trump's team and Dr. Ben Carson
... a neurosurgeon who is under the delusion that being brilliant qualifies him to be president....
's team, as well most of the rest of the campaigns, huddled together to wrest control away from the mainstream media--which has been, until now, dominating the process.