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Fox News, the Republican National Committee and a number of media outlets are being sued by a man who opposes the criteria for participating in the first 2024 presidential primary debate.
In June, the RNC, the Republican Party's governing body, announced polling and donor requirements candidates need to meet to qualify for the debate, scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will jointly moderate the debate.
Jose Pereira filed a lawsuit to contest the criteria for participation in the debate. He listed Fox News as the first defendant in his suit, along with the RNC, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Time magazine and BBC News.
In his complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on Tuesday, Pereira argued that he should be exempt from the RNC's requirements for participation in the debate. The rules require a candidate to register at least 40,000 individual donations, with 200 in at least 20 states and territories. They must also reach 1 percent support in either three national polls or in two national polls and two early-state polls.
The RNC also requires all attendees to sign a series of pledges, including one to support the eventual Republican nominee. The candidates have to show proof that they have met the criteria 48 hours prior to the debate.
Newsweek reached out to Pereira via text message for comment. The RNC, Fox News and other media outlets were also contacted via email for comment.
"The situation is that after being inundated with robocalls from politicians asking for political donations I have decided to try something new and run a campaign without donations," Pereira wrote in his complaint. "We feel we need peoples votes and not their money."
Pereira also argued that national media outlets are limiting their reporting to "established politicians or wealthy businessmen," making the bar for meeting the requirements all but impossible for "everyday people."
He also took issue with the RNC's requirement that candidates must pledge to support the eventual nominee. Former President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner, has satisfied the thresholds for taking part in the debate but has not promised to support a nominee.
Trump has indicated he will boycott the debate and has floated the idea of holding a competing event on the night. Pereira wrote that he should be exempt from that requirement because he could not pledge loyalty to Trump due to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Pereira asked the court to fast-track his complaint since the debate is just three weeks away.
"If possible I would like to request if we could halt the debate a week or 2 until these legal concerns are addressed]," he added.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more