Vivek Ramaswamy slams CNN Iowa debate snub and announces counterevent

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy slammed CNN‘s Jan. 10 debate scheduled just five days before the Iowa caucuses after it appears likely he won’t meet the debate qualifications in a statement released on Tuesday.

Ramaswamy also announced that he would instead participate in a live studio town hall with podcast host Tim Pool on the same night as the CNN debate, in a move similar to former President Donald Trump‘s snubbing of the four previous GOP primary debates.

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“Ratings wasteland CNN has not only guaranteed themselves the most boring presidential ‘debate’ in modern history with two career politicians reciting consultant-vetted talking points, but the network has exposed itself to be actively engaging in egregious interference with the Iowa GOP caucus and disrespecting GOP voters,” Ramaswamy said in a statement. “Censorship, cherry-picking polls, and legal threats are just the mainstream media’s latest tactics to prop up their favorite puppet.”

All participating candidates were required to receive at least 10% in three separate national or Iowa polls of Republican caucusgoers or primary voters, of which only Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have met. The former president will skip this debate as he has done with previous matchups and will participate in a Fox News town hall from Des Moines.

According to the RealClearPolitics poll average, Trump is polling at 62.5%, while DeSantis and Haley are tied at 11.2%, followed by Ramaswamy at 4.2%, far below the 10% threshold. The RealClearPolitics‘s Iowa poll average shows Trump at 51.3%, DeSantis at 18.6%, Haley at 16.1%, and Ramaswamy at 5.9%.

CNN’s debate will take place at 9 p.m. EST at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, while Ramaswamy’s town hall with Pool will start an hour earlier at 8 p.m. EST. Trump’s Fox News town hall will air at 9 p.m. EST.

Ramaswamy also claimed the network “disgracefully cut short its own Iowa town hall” with him on Dec. 13, threatened his campaign with a cease-and-desist order on Dec. 14, and “had YouTube black out the town hall after it got 200k+ views on YouTube in a matter of hours.” along with accusing several CNN employees of attacking his campaign for conspiracy theories.

“Open your eyes and see what CNN and other mainstream media outlets are trying to do: implement a plot to prop up the establishment-approved GOP puppet,” Ramaswamy continued in his diatribe against the network. “Don’t let them get away with it. This is an insult to GOP caucusgoers in Iowa.”

Last week, Ramaswamy’s campaign canceled all TV ad spending but was adamant he wouldn’t drop out before the Iowa caucuses and the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.

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“Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ,” Ramaswamy wrote in response to the news. “We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data … apparently a crazy idea in US politics. Big surprise coming on Jan 15.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to CNN for comment.