Chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus opens the session at the 2012 Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa on August 29, 2012. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- NBC and CNN must ax programs on ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or face a Republican pullout of the 2016 U.S. primary debates, the GOP chairman warned.
In letters to Robert Greenblatt, NBC Entertainment chairman, and Jeff Zucker, CNN Worldwide president, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Monday if the productions weren't canceled before the RNC's summer meeting, he would seek a binding vote of the RNC "to prevent the committee from partnering with these networks in 2016 primary debates or sanctioning debates they sponsor."
"It's appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who have donated to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be Hillary Clinton's campaign operatives," Priebus in a statement posted on GOP.com. "Their actions to promote Secretary Clinton are disturbing and disappointing. I hope Americans will question the credibility of these networks and that NBC and CNN will reconsider their partisan actions and cancel these political ads masked as unbiased entertainment.
The RNC's summer meeting is Aug. 14.
NBC recently announced plans to air a miniseries on Clinton, while CNN said it was producing a documentary.
Clinton has said she isn't interested in another bid to be the Democratic Party's standard-bearer in 2016. She battled President Obama for the 2008 nod before bowing out. However, national polls indicate she is the clear favorite and a political action committee has been established in case she does choose to run.
"I find this disturbing and disappointing," Preibus said in his letter to Greenblatt. "NBC cannot purport to be a neutral third party in American politics, and the credibility of NBC News, already damaged by the partisanship of MSNBC, will be further undermined by the actions of NBC Universal executives who have taken it upon themselves to produce an extended commercial for secretary Clinton's nascent campaign."
He expressed similar sentiments in his letter to Zucker.
During the 2012 campaign several media outlets reported several members of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney were contributors to Fox News.
