Trump Says CNBC Debate Will Now Be 2 Hours Long After Boycott Threat

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump, speaks during the Values Voter Summit in Washington. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is asking Trump to stop usi... FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump, speaks during the Values Voter Summit in Washington. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is asking Trump to stop using the power ballad "Dream On" at campaign events. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) MORE LESS
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This post has been updated.

After threatening to boycott the nest Republican presidential debate held by CNBC, Donald Trump said on Friday morning that the network had agreed to limit the debate to two hours.

CNN reported that the Republican National Committee began calling candidates on Friday morning to inform them that CNBC had agreed to limit the debate to two hours.

Trump and Ben Carson on Thursday sent a letter to CNBC demanding that the network limit the debate to just two hours and allow candidates to give opening and closing statements. The two Republican presidential candidates said they would not attend the debate unless their demands were met.

The boycott threat followed a chaotic phone call between the Republican National Committee and representatives for the candidates. According to Politico, aides for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) demanded that CNBC include opening and closing remarks. And staffers for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said their bosses would attend the debate no matter what.

CNBC said on Thursday said that the format for the debate had not yet been finalized.

“Our goal is to host the most substantive debate possible. Our practice in the past has been to forego opening statements to allow more time to address the critical issues that matter most to the American people,” CNBC Spokesman Brian Steel said, according to Politico. “We started a dialogue yesterday with all of the campaigns involved, and we will certainly take the candidate’s views on the format into consideration as we finalize the debate structure.”

CNBC did not immediately respond to TPM’s Friday morning request for comment.

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Notable Replies

  1. You know, agreeing to play by Trump’s rules pretty much destroys the myth of “The Liberal Media.”

  2. Avatar for tao tao says:

    Trump’s dictatorial tendency is showing.

  3. Avatar for bdtex bdtex says:

    10 candidates giving opening and closing statements in a 2 hour debate. Not much time for actual debate. Not much time for Trump takedowns by the rest.

  4. Our practice in the past has been to forego opening statements to allow more time to address the critical issues that matter most to the American people

    Yeah, well, the problem with that is your leading candidate wants to spend less time, as in no time, addressing the critical issues because he has nothing of substance to say on any of them, he damn well knows it, and he’s a slick enough shyster salesman not to want to be tap dancing out there on stage any longer than he has to.

  5. Too many candidates , cull the flock to the top 6…

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