RNC Moves To Scuttle 2024 Iowa “Thanksgiving Family Forum”

Earlier this month, an influential Christian conservative leader invited each of the Republican presidential candidates to attend a “Thanksgiving Family Forum” in Iowa. Candidates who accept wouldn’t stand behind podiums. Instead, they would be encouraged to gather around a table.

The Family Leader Foundation is set to host. Bob Vander Plaats, the head of that organization, has promised to moderate. The event is being billed as “a family discussion with presidential candidates.”

And no one will show up. That is, if the candidates want to keep on participating in debates sanctioned by the Republican National Convention. The RNC has warned the 2024 field not to attend the Thanksgiving dinner, RealClearPolitics is first to report.

Multiple campaigns now tell RCP that they feel stuck in the middle of an ugly argument between a kingmaker in Iowa and GOP leadership. It isn’t the first time, either.

When entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, agreed to face off for a debate in miniature on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, the RNC moved in swiftly to quash the event, citing pledges signed by both candidates. The cable news dust-up was subsequently scuttled.

A similar dynamic is now playing out as candidates consider breaking bread with Vander Plaats.

In an October 28 letter, addressed to “Republican Presidential Campaigns” and obtained by RCP, the RNC sought to spoil to the Vander Plaats event. Show up for dinner, the party warned the candidates in so many words, and they’ll be booted from all future debates.

“It has come to the attention of the RNC Counsel’s Office that several Republican presidential candidates have been invited to participate in an open-press event in Iowa in November at which they would ‘gather around the table to have a moderated, friendly, and open discussion about the issues,’” the letter reads. “In other words, a debate.”

Citing a pledge signed by each of the candidates, the RNC counsel continued, “Please be advised that any Republican presidential candidate who participates in this or other similar events will be deemed to have violated this pledge and will be disqualified from taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates.”

The news comes as the RNC continues to raise the bar to qualify for the debate in an attempt to naturally winnow the field. Eight candidates attended the first contest in Milwaukee. Seven qualified for the second debate stage at the Reagan Library in California. Now only five have qualified for Wednesday’s debate in Miami.

One candidate has qualified for each of those contests but declined to participate: the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Former President Trump holds a 44-point lead in the RealClearPolitics Average. He has also publicly clashed with Vander Plaats.

The evangelical leader has a history of picking winners in Iowa. He endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in 2012, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008. Each candidate won the caucuses but fell short of securing the Republican nomination.

Like many social conservatives, Vander Plaats appreciates the accomplishments of the former president. In an interview with CNN, he pointed to the Supreme Court justices whom Trump nominated and who overturned Roe v. Wade. All the same, he has said that voters feel “exhausted” by Trump.

“Iowa is tailor-made to upend Trump,” Vander Plaats said in September. “If he loses Iowa, there’s a competitive nomination process. If he wins Iowa, I think it’s over.”

Ron DeSantis is said to be one of Vander Plaats’ new favorites. After Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds backed the Florida governor, the Trump campaign reportedly took steps to downplay any endorsement from the evangelical.

“Just learned the @realDonaldTrump campaign conducted a poll on [the] impact of my endorsement. I’m flattered. If they’d ask me, I’d tell them my endorsement is worth one vote. Mine. Their obsession with my potential endorsement highlights the fragility of their lead,” Vander Plaats said in a statement posted to X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, the RNC seems unconcerned with whomever he chooses to endorse. They just don’t want any of the candidates to show up on stage for a Thanksgiving dinner with him. They consider that an unsanctioned debate.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.