Critics of Donald Trump might argue that the White House hopeful doesn’t even understand the meaning of the word “inappropriate.” However, a freshly released statement from America’s orange dividing line has The Donald wielding that word to describe a potential debate between himself and Democratic contender Bernie Sanders.
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has officially squashed talk of such a showdown that began to ramp up courtesy of an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Trump’s camp reportedly dismissed that initial talk as simply a joke, and now the 69-year-old business titan has confirmed it’s a no go. As has been customary with his campaign, Trump gave his two cents on the matter with minimal diplomacy.
Trump says he WILL NOT debate Bernie: " it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher" pic.twitter.com/EhUgIx2Nt5
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) May 27, 2016
“Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher,” declared Trump.
Network greed was also cited as a reason why Trump is choosing to stay away from such a thing, claiming that these stations want to make as much money as possible from a debate and not donate enough to charitable causes. According to Trump, charitable efforts related to “women’s health issues” would have been what he’d like debate revenue to go towards.
Bernie Sanders responded to Trump’s decision not to debate and suggested that he’d be game for his Republican rival to reverse his stance on having a one-on-one showdown.
“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. There is a reason why in virtually every national and statewide poll I am defeating Donald Trump, sometimes by very large margins and almost always by far larger margins than Secretary Clinton. There is a reason for that reality and the American people should be able to see it up front in a good debate and a clash of ideas.”
Would you want to see a Trump/Sanders debate? And does that interest come from a genuine interest in their exchange and debate of ideas or just a perverse curiosity in seeing how it plays out? (We’re not here to judge.) Sound off with your thoughts in the comments.
(Via Time)