Millions of Americans owe Donald Trump a debt of gratitude on this one: He, backed by other candidates, has succeeded at getting the next Republican presidential debate
limited to two hours, including commercials.
The move comes after Trump and Ben Carson threatened to pull out of the faceoff in Boulder, Colorado, if the hosts didn't agree to their demands.
In a letter to CNBC, the two candidates said they would not participate "if it is longer than 120 minutes, including commercials, and does not include opening and closing statements."
In regard to the issue of the opening and closing statements, RNC spokesperson Sean Spicer told CNN, "We are having an ongoing conversation with CNBC and the candidates."
CNN got greedy at the last Republican debate, which turned into an endless, painful marathon and conclusively showed that you can keep going and going—but with 11 candidates on the stage, you're still not going to get any substance. If CNBC is looking for time for substantive answers rather than,
as Trump has alleged, more time to sell commercials, it should cut down the number of candidates allowed to debate.
Other campaigns are also dead set on opening and closing statements, with a Rand Paul staffer saying, "If we don’t have opening and closing statements, CNBC can go f--- themselves." This is simultaneously the most Rand Paul campaign thing ever and hilarious, because who cares if Rand Paul wants them to go f--- themselves?