Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Tuesday that the Republican National Committee had blocked a planned joint appearance with rival Vivek Ramaswamy on Fox News.
"When the RNC stops conversations between candidates from happening that is real cause for concern," the former New Jersey governor said in a statement, adding that the candidates were threatened with exclusion from the third GOP presidential debate in Miami as well as future debates.
Ramaswamy responded to the RNC blocking the appearance by criticizing last week's second Republican debate in California as "a disgrace" and accusing the party of conducting " a brokered & rigged nomination process."
The California debate was beset by interruptions, crosstalk and protracted squabbles between the candidates and moderators over speaking time. The trajectory of the 2024 Republican nomination process appears unlikely to have been seriously altered by the two debates so far, with former President Donald Trump, who has skipped both showdowns, still seen as the front-runner for the GOP nomination.
In order to participate in the RNC debates, candidates must agree to not participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned ones during the campaign.
"The same candidates complaining about the rules governing RNC debates all signed a pledge and agreed months ago to not participate in unsanctioned debates. The RNC will continue to enact a fair, transparent debate process and we will not give in to pressure from individuals seeking to change the rules to favor their candidacy," an RNC spokesperson said in a statement.
The appearance between Christie and Ramaswamy had been scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday on Fox News with Bret Baier as host. Baier said later Tuesday that the two candidates had taped the interviews but that Fox was forced to postpone airing the segments due to breaking news after the House voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Christie campaign spokesperson Karl Rickett had earlier confirmed to CNN that Christie and Ramaswamy had been expected to sit for back-to-back interviews on Fox.
Politico was first to report on the new interview plan.
This story has been updated with additional information.
