The Republican National Committee on Friday announced that it will not host any more GOP presidential debates this cycle, freeing the remaining candidates to take part in unsanctioned debates moving forward.
The newly announced debates to be held by ABC News and CNN in January will be held independent of 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."
This week's fourth RNC-sanctioned debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which four candidates qualified for, will go down as the final one by the committee.
The candidates are now also released from the pledge they signed, agreeing not to take part in any debate not sanctioned by the RNC.
CNN this week announced plans to hold two debates in January, on the 10th in Iowa and the 21th in New Hampshire. ABC News also announced plans for a debate on Jan. 18 in New Hampshire.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the RNC to put an end to the debates and has not attended any of them. He's not expected to participate in any future debates either, free of the RNC or not.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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