Statement by Governor Bobby Jindal: Nationally-Focused Debate Criteria Ignores Reality, Hurts Early States, Helps Trump

IOWA CITY, IOWA – Governor Bobby Jindal spoke out today on the Republican National Committee's upcoming sanctioned presidential debate, hosted by CNBC, and its unfair criteria for candidate participation.

Governor Jindal said, "Two weeks ago, I was surprised to learn that the criteria for participating in the upcoming RNC-sanctioned presidential debate do not take into account performance in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

"No candidate for President has won the nomination of my party without winning in either Iowa or New Hampshire in the modern era, and I suspect that pattern will continue this year. I've been gaining ground and campaigning hard in the state where Republicans will cast the first real votes for President in 2016: Iowa.

"While some in Washington have wrongly suggested that Iowa and NH should not be the first states in future elections, they are in fact the first states in this election. By ignoring the early states and instead only looking at meaningless national name ID polls, the networks are in effect trying to create a national primary. They are attempting to winnow the field long before the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire get to cast their ballots by restricting access to debates.

"The primary beneficiary of this process is Donald Trump, a candidate completely devoid of substance, but a candidate who is well known nationally for his TV show and his juvenile antics. What he lacks in depth or seriousness he more than makes up for with national name recognition from his long career as an entertainer.

"Just as Chairman Priebus was the only person with the power and authority to attempt to correct the problems he saw in our 2012 nominating process, he is also the only person with the power and authority to force the networks to measure progress in Iowa and NH, and stop ignoring the reality of how we nominate our nominee for President.