Edward Snowden ribbed Donald Trump for declining a debate with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders in California on June 7.
“Who would have imagined Donald Trump’s greatest fear was an economic debate?” Snowden tweeted on Saturday.
Who would have imagined Donald Trump’s greatest fear was an economic debate?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 28, 2016
Snowden’s comment seems in answer to the question Sanders asked after Trump announced that he would forgo the debate. “Trump is a bully, he’s a big tough guy. Well, I say to Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?” Sanders said to reporters Friday.
Trump said he was skipping the debate because as the Republican nominee, “it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher.” He also expressed doubts that the networks would donate to charitable causes.
The idea of a debate between the two candidates first came up on Wednesday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” when Trump said he would be willing to debate the Vermont senator if an an unspecified sum of money was donated to charity. Sanders, immediately seized on the suggestion, tweeting “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.”
While the topic of the debate was never actually addressed, both candidates have made the economy a major platform of their campaigns.
Much of Sanders’ populist campaign has run on the platform of helping the middle class, while deriding Wall Street, millionaires and billionaires. Meanwhile, going along with his campaign slogan “Make American Great Again,” Trump often rails against American businesses for costing Americans jobs by moving to other countries like Mexico. The billionaire businessman also has called for a tough stance on illegal immigration and trade, which he says have “destroyed our middle class.”
Trump has been a harsh critic of Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who faces at least three felony counts for exposing classified information about the federal government’s surveillance programs. Snowden currently resides in Russia, where he was granted asylum.
Last year Trump told CNN that Snowden is a “total traitor,” and that as president he would convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to hand him over, adding that he would deal with Snowden “harshly.”
