Washington – U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday ruled out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle.
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The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California’s June 7 primary.
A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea “inappropriate” because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats’ final choice.
“I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump said in a statement.
Sanders’ campaign has been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week.
Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday.
“I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now you’re telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again,” Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account.
Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity.
“I’d love to debate Bernie,” he told a rally in Fresno, California. “But the networks want to keep the money for themselves.”
Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party’s nomination. Opinion polls show he is slicing into Clinton’s lead in California.
Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous.
The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.
Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trump’s support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders.
no reason for Trump to debate an anti-semite and a communist
“Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll”.
Other polls have Trump ahead of Clinton by two points.
Go Trump Go
Good for Donald. Bernie has become a dangerous enemy of the Jewish people, with his recent appointment of rabid anti-Semites as key advisors. He is likely to poison the Democrat platform with his parroting of their advice for a more “balanced” approach to the “Palestinian” chayos.
Hashem yishmor.
The real reason why trump pulled out:
Trump has been angling for a while to inherit the sanders voters once Hillary defeats Bernie. Once that happens, Trump may get up to a quarter of the Bernie vote. Easily enough to win him the general election. If trump would debate Bernie, he would knock him hard and be very personal and highlight that he never achieved anything in the real world. For Trump to do so, would alienate the demographic that he did so well in bridging. If sanders will be the dem nominee he would debate sanders and knock him very hard, but he is smart in not wanting to butt heads at this point with the sanders fans. Insulting their messiah would destroy a lot of his inroads.
Trump is a liar and a chicken. He made the offer to debate Bernie and donate the money from the event to charity. When Bernie accepted he backed out. He is scared to debate Bernie because he has no grasp of the issues. Name calling only works to a point. Trump is a baldfaced liar and unfit to serve as president of this great country. He is a pathetic candidate.
” Balanced approach to the Palestinian problem” It was Trump who said that not Bernie. He said it many times in the debates. He will make peace in 5 days he will negotiate and will be neutral in the conflict. Hashem Yishmor.
לב מלכים ושרים ביד ד ועל המדינות בו יאמר…….. אינו תלוי בכלל בדעתינו’