The National Review confirmed that the Republican National Committee (RNC) disinvited the publication from participating in the Republican presidential primary debate scheduled for February 25 after publishing an editorial and symposium criticizing Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
In a January 21 blog post National Review's Jack Fowler announced that the RNC disinvited the publication from the February 25 GOP debate that they planned to co-moderate due to their "'Against Trump' editorial and Symposium":
National Review was asked by the RNC to partner in the GOP debates. We agreed. Our initial partner was NBC, with whom we were to help moderate the pre-Super Tuesday debate, originally to be held on February 26 in Houston, then suspended by the RNC in retribution over the antics of CNBC moderators in its now infamous debate last month. A new main host was picked this week -- CNN. National Review was to partner, along with Salem Radio and Telemundo, the debate rescheduled for February 25.
Tonight, a top official with the RNC called me to say that National Review was being disinvited. The reason: Our “Against Trump” editorial and symposium. We expected this was coming. Small price to pay for speaking the truth about The Donald.