Time - USA (2022-01-31)

25

REPUBLICANS ARE ABOUT

to implement a Donald

Trump loyalty test, the latest

move inside its central party

committee to gauge fealty

to the de facto leader. The

test could potentially kill the

next presidential nominee’s

chance to reach voters with a

direct contrast to the Demo-

crats’ pick.

The Republican National

Committee (RNC) is poised

to amend its rules during

a February meeting to de-

mand that any contend-

ers for the presidential

nomination pledge to skip

general-election debates

sponsored by the nonparti-

san Commission on Presi-

dential Debates. The group

has organized the televised

sessions dating from 1988

and has endured Trump’s

scorn since 2016 for its

perceived biases.

The test goes well beyond

just the hopefuls. Each of

the 168 members of the RNC

will have to navigate whether

they prioritize tradition or

The D.C. Brief

By Philip Elliott

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

A podium at Hofstra University, the site of a 2016 presidential debate

By Belinda Luscombe

For more insights from

Washington, sign up for

TIME’s politics newsletter

at time.com/theDCbrief

Trump’s grievances—and

then face the consequences.

Those little-known party

insiders have tremendous

power. The RNC has fairly

unilateral control over who

gets to debate during the

primaries and what news

organizations get to ask the

questions. An RNC that

puts its thumb on the scales

can essentially shut out

unfavored candidates—or

eff ectively throw the nomi-

nation to Trump if its mem-

bers decide to be shameless.

The party’s cardinals are

poised to make a move that

is hardly strategic. It is the

opposite of building the

Republican brand or per-

suading voters. It is an emo-

tional play aimed at a party

of one. But at least for the

moment, that party is the

most important factor in

the modern GOP.