RNC to NBC, CNN: Yank Hillary Shows or No Debates

Reince Priebus is not happy with 'extended commercial' for 2016 bid
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2013 2:30 PM CDT
RNC to NBC, CNN: Yank Hillary Shows or No Debates
In this March 18, 2013 file photo, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is shown.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

CNN and NBC had better pull the plug on their plans to bring Hillary Clinton to the small screen, or Reince Priebus is threatening to take his 2016 presidential debates and find them another network home. In a sternly worded letter today to network honchos, the RNC chair calls NBC's forthcoming miniseries and CNN's documentary "disturbing and disappointing," and a "thinly veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election." In case his point is proving elusive, Priebus admonishes the networks for producing an "extended commercial" and a "this political ad masquerading as an unbiased production."

But Priebus isn't just speaking softly: If CNN and NBC won't listen to reason and yank the programming before August 14, he says he'll "seek a binding vote of the RNC stating that the committee will neither partner with you in 2016 primary debates nor sanction primary debates which you sponsor." Neither NBC nor CNN had immediate comment, notes the AP. (More RNC stories.)

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