Some network just lost a lot of money.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced Friday he would not, in fact, debate Democrat Bernie Sanders in California ahead of the state’s primary.
In a statement published on Trump’s campaign website, he says “it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher. Likewise, the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes.”
Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver had suggested the debate would draw a huge television audience, and said all of the news networks had been in touch in the hopes of hosting the event.
Here’s the Trump statement, in full:
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. Likewise, the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case, women’s health issues. Therefore, as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders – and it would be an easy payday – I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be.