The Republican National Committee has appointed a new official to oversee negotiations between the presidential campaigns and television networks about upcoming debates.
The GOP installed Sean Cairncross, the RNC’s chief operating officer, as its top negotiator on Sunday. RNC spokesman Sean Spicer had formerly served in this role.
“The week’s debate was a disaster,” Spicer told the Washington Examiner in an email. “Sean adds a great piece to our effort to best advocate for the candidates.”
The news comes as representatives from several presidential campaigns met in Virginia to discuss potential changes to upcoming debates’ structure. RNC Chief of Staff Katie Walsh reportedly emailed the presidential campaign managers ahead of the meeting to let them know of the changes.
“The RNC’s mission is to provide you with the best possible platform and stage to share your vision for America,” Walsh wrote to the campaigns, according to the Politico. “We simply cannot have the disastrous process that happened in 2012 or a repeat of last week. … We know that at times getting such a historically large and strong field to agree on how to move forward can be a challenge, but it is one that we are proud to take on. We look forward to working with each of you moving forward.”
The next GOP presidential debate is scheduled for Nov. 10 in Milwaukee, Wisc., and will appear on Fox Business Network.
