Republicans Are About To Vote To Boycott CNN And NBC Over Hillary Clinton

BOSTON — The Republican National Committee will vote Friday to pass a resolution that will prevent NBC and CNN from hosting Republican primary debates unless the networks cease production of their projects on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The resolution, in which the RNC says that Clinton is "likely" to run for president in 2016, blasts both networks and says the projects will "jeopardize will the credibility of CNN and NBC as supposedly unbiased news networks."

The resolution serves as a high-profile attempt for the RNC to gain more control over its debate process during the Republican primary. It was something that hurt Republican candidates during a grueling primary schedule in 2011 and 2012, and allowed for Mitt Romney to make damaging comments, such as when he said his preferred method of solving the nation's immigration woes was "self-deportation."

"You need a primary system that doesn't encourage the slicing and dicing of our candidates," Priebus said here Thursday.

The Washington Examiner reported on Thursday that names of conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin have been discussed as possible moderators. Together, the focus on Clinton and the propping up of possible conservative debate hosts has received a warm welcome within the conservative community. (An RNC official here said she didn't know how seriously those three names were being discussed.)

Here's the full text of the RNC's resolution on Clinton, provided by an RNC official (emphasis added):

WHEREAS, former Secretary Hillary Clinton is likely to run for President in 2016, and CNN and NBC have both announced programming that amounts to little more than extended commercials promoting former Secretary Clinton; and

WHEREAS, these programming decisions are an attempt to show political favoritism and put a thumb on the scales for the next presidential election; and

WHEREAS, airing this programming will jeopardize will the credibility of CNN and NBC as supposedly unbiased news networks and undermine the perceived objectivity of the coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign by these networks; and

WHEREAS, Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, contributed the maximum amount to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign committee, contributed $25,000 to Obama’s 2012 Victory Fund, and this year contributed $10,000 to the Democratic National Committee; therefore be it –

RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee calls on CNN and NBC to cancel the airing of these political ads masked as unbiased entertainment; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that if CNN and NBC continue to move forward with this and other such programming, the Republican National Committee will neither partner with these networks in the 2016 presidential primary debates nor sanction any primary debates they sponsor, and, be it finally

RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee shall endeavor to bring more order to the primary debates and ensure a reasonable number of debates, appropriate moderators and debate partners are chosen, and that other issues pertaining to the general nature of such debates are addressed.