Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign on Wednesday released a statement pushing back against Hillary Clinton’s call for the senator to attend an unsanctioned February debate, arguing that the former secretary of state wants more debates now because Sanders has gained “momentum.”
“From the beginning of this campaign Sen. Sanders has called for more debates. Secretary Clinton has not. Now she is asking to change the rules to schedule a debate next week that is not sanctioned by the DNC,” Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement.
“Why is that? The answer is obvious. The dynamics of the race have changed and Sen. Sanders has significant momentum,” he added.
Sanders’ campaign proposed three new debates in March, April, and May against Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, adding that none of them should be on a weekend.
“Sen. Sanders is happy to have more debates but we are not going to schedule them on an ad hoc basis at the whim of the Clinton campaign. If Secretary Clinton wants more debates that’s great. We propose three additional debates,” Weaver said in the statement. “If the Clinton campaign will commit to this schedule, we would ask the DNC to arrange a debate in New Hampshire on Feb. 4.”
On Tuesday, MSNBC and the New Hampshire Union Leader announced that they would host an unsanctioned Democratic presidential debate. The Democratic National Committee has faced criticism for limiting the number of debates to six and barring candidates from attending unsanctioned debates. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) said that the party would not sanction the debate planned by MSNBC and the Union Leader for Feb. 4.
Clinton’s campaign said that the former secretary of state would “participate in a debate in New Hampshire if the other candidates agree, which would allow the DNC to sanction the debate.”
But Sanders campaign said it would not attend the new debate unless the DNC approved it, citing fears that the senator would then be barred from attending future debates.
On Wednesday, the Clinton campaign then asked Sanders to agree to the new debate, calling him “lone holdout” preventing the candidates from participating in the new debate.
