Many critics believed that the Democratic National Committee sought to minimize the debate schedule, thereby favoring Clinton over Sanders. Now the presidential debate schedule is being challenged because two of the dates conflict with National Football League games.
Advertisement
In the ABC interview, Trump said three debates were “fine” and that he’d rather have three than one.
Stephanopoulos: So, you don’t like the dates that are out there. “I don’t know how the dates were picked”. She doesn’t maybe like she did with Bernie Sanders where they were on Saturday nights when nobody’s home.
One hour later, Hillary Clinton’s campaign signaled that it has no problem with the calendar.
The campaign is concerned that two of the three presidential debates are set to take place on the same nights as nationally televised NFL games. But we want as many people to be involved in this process as possible, and that’s our posture. It operates independently of the political campaigns.
The first debate is set for September 26, the same night as a Monday Night Football matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.
While the majority of voters are expected to watch the presidential debates this election cycle, many may be unaware of the governing body that decides debate dates each election.
The first presidential debate of 2016, scheduled for September 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., runs up against “Monday Night Football” on ESPN.
MILLER: We would like the debates to not be head to head against major National Football League games.
And with upwards of 22.5 million viewers tuning into Sunday Night Football a year ago, one of the two programs is likely going to lose out on viewers.
The second presidential debate, on October 9, coincides with “Sunday Night Football” on NBC.
The CPD was specifically formed as a nonpartisan group to create a structure for debates that doesn’t favor one candidate over another. On the opposite side of the coin, there are no doubt sports fans who will want to see those debates but will be put off their feed by the fact that they have to miss the game.
No matter what the businessman decides to do, Clinton confirmed she will attend. But as you can see below, it is almost impossible to hold a debate when there is no sporting event.
Amid Trump’s many controversial moments over the past week, it came to light that two of the three presidential debates are scheduled for the same nights as nationally televised NFL games. “A debate has never been rescheduled as a result”, the statement read.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has scheduled three televised debates ahead of the November 8 election – Monday, Sept. 26, Sunday, Oct. 9, and Wednesday, Oct. 19.
We should note as well that Trump’s claim that he “got a letter from the NFL” calling the debate schedule “ridiculous” was denied by the NFL.
Donald Trump is wrong when he says the presidential debates are rigged.
A Trump aide said Saturday that the Republican candidate “was made aware of the conflicting dates by a source close to the league”.
Advertisement
This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has set his sites on the NFL. I’ve no doubt that key players from both sides were trying to influence the decision, but there wasn’t enough information available at that point to really make such a call.
