The GOP nominee said he did “very well” in the primary debates.
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“The only issue now is whether Donald Trump is going to show up to debate at the date, times, places and formats set by the commission past year through a bipartisan process. But I have to see the conditions”. That sparked speculation that the celebrity businessman and former Atlantic City casino magnate might skip the events.
The directive comes from producers working for the Commission on Presidential Debates and it’s meant, they say, to force the university hosts to be prepared and not as a reflection of the state of the race.
The debates are scheduled for September 26, October 9 and October 19.
Trump has accused Clinton and the Democratic Party of “trying to rig the debates” by looking to hold them during the same time as major National Football League games.
“They were making a fortune on them, and they had us in for three and a half hours and I said that’s ridiculous”, the real estate mogul told the magazine. “I think it’s going to be very revealing for the public, and I look forward to it, but I would think something like what we had with the Republican debates or what they had with the Democrat debates”. According to the polls, I won all of them.
The Trump campaign did not respond to multiple questions from The News over whether the nominee would participate in the debates.
One of the key issues for Trump?
The commission and its overlords are right to be pondering a tweak to the rules, if for no other reason to fulfill its stated mission, which reads in part “to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners”. The lineup has yet to be announced.
“That’s all I’m looking for”, he told Van Susteren during an interview Wednesday.
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A refusal by Donald Trump to participate in the presidential debates this fall would mark another weird and unprecedented move by the unusual nominee – but unlike some of his past unorthodox steps, experts say it would nearly certainly destroy what little chance he could have left at winning the White House.
