We believe that Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump collectively represent the voice of the American people.
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The feverish speculation about a Trump-Sanders showdown started when Trump said Wednesday on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” he’d be willing to do it – if enough money went to charity.
Sanders’ campaign has been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the NY billionaire on a talk show this week.
Trump also said news networks “are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes”, which he previously had said would be a goal of debating Sanders. “Given that there are several television networks prepared to carry this debate and donate funds to charity, I hope that he changes his mind once again and comes on board”.
The event would “get high ratings” and “should be in a big arena somewhere”, Trump said, continuing, “we could have a lot of fun with it”.
“In Bismarck, North Dakota, Trump laid out his offer, saying he would do the debate if it raised “$10 million or $15 million for charity”.
The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but givenSanders a huge platform ahead of California’s June 7 primary. Opinion polls show he is slicing into Clinton’s lead in California.
“Game on”, Sanders wrote.
Sanders first learned about Trump’s decision to back away from the debate when asked about it at a Los Angeles event. She said networks already compromise themselves by negotiating with campaigns over the moderators and formats for debates.
But a strong performance in California may boost Sanders’s case that superdelegates – party leaders and elected officials not formally bound to any candidate – should switch their allegiance to him on the basis of perceived electability against Republican Donald Trump.
The two candidates reiterated their support for a debate throughout Thursday.
According to CBS News’ delegate count, Clinton is fewer than 100 delegates shy of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Leaving out Clinton could have the effect of belittling her, despite her commanding position on the verge of the Democratic nomination, and could give both men free shots at her decades in public service as part of the establishment they both deride.
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Neither Clinton or Sanders have enough delegates to win at this point.
