The chair of the Ohio Republican Party is calling on candidates to avoid appearances at the City Club of Cleveland, two days after a forum with Sen. Bernie Moreno was frequently interrupted by outbursts from the crowd.
鈥淭丑别 will urge candidates to avoid future events at the City Club of Cleveland. It is not what it purports to be and until they foster civil, adult conversation, Republicans should decline participation to avoid this spectacle,鈥� Thursday night.
In a statement sent Friday afternoon, City Club CEO Dan Moulthrop said the organization was "disappointed."
""The City Club is disappointed by the disruptions that occurred during Wednesday鈥檚 forum," Moulthrop said. "We have been a home for civil civic discourse for more than 100 years. We are proud of that legacy, and to ensure we sustain it we are evaluating our protocols for responding to such behavior."
Members of the audience frequently laughed, banged on the table and made comments while Moreno was speaking with moderator Henry Gomez of NBC News.
During one exchange, after Moreno said President Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a member of the audience called out, 鈥淲hat is your major malfunction, man? Nobel Peace Prize?鈥�
Officials from the City Club tried to quiet the crowd.
The will urge candidates to avoid future events at the City Club of Cleveland. It is not what it purports to be and until they foster civil, adult conversation, Republicans should decline participation to avoid this spectacle.
— Alex Triantafilou (@ChairmanAlex)
鈥淚 just want to invite everybody to take a couple of deep breaths and recognize that we all came here to hear answers,鈥� Moulthrop said during the forum. 鈥淎nd we may not be satisfied with those answers, but we're here to respect civic discourse, and if you don't want to respect civic discourse you don't have to stay, and I'd happily refund any tickets that need to be refunded.鈥�
The City Club frequently hosts debates during election season and invites both national and local political figures for forums that include prepared remarks and questions from the audience.
On its website, it 鈥渙ne of the nation's great free speech forums. A product of the Progressive Era, we were founded in 1912 and are one of the nation's oldest continuous independent free speech forums, renowned for our tradition of debate and discussion.鈥�
In a comment provided to Ideastream Public Media, Triantafilou offered the City Club the opportunity to make changes to reverse the boycott.
鈥淪enator Bernie Moreno has been a steadfast advocate for Ohio and a respected voice in the U.S. Senate,鈥� Triantafilou, the former chair of the Hamilton County GOP, said. 鈥淲hat occurred on Wednesday was completely unwarranted. The City Club must do more to restore civility in its open dialogue sessions, and I welcome any recommendations to help improve that process.鈥�
