Upset that two key presidential debates coincide with NFL games, the Donald Trump campaign will press for changes.
A spokesman for the campaign said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” that negotiations on the debate dates are set to start next week. GOP nominee Donald Trump has criticized the decision to have two of the six presidential debates take place at the same time as popular NFL games.
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“We would like the debates not be head-to-head against major NFL games,” said Jason Miller, senior communications adviser for Trump’s campaign. “That is something we will be discussing as we go into negotiations.”
The negotiations will also involve Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that Clinton may be trying to rig the debates to have them go up against NFL games so fewer people will watch them.
“The Clinton camp would like these to be head-to-head with NFL games,” Miller said.
But host Brian Stelter responded that the dates were actually selected almost a year ago by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
The commission told CNN that it didn’t consult with any campaigns or parties when making the decision on the dates. It added that it routinely needs to ensure the debates are on different days of the week and don’t coincide with religious holidays.
Stelter then took on Trump’s assertion that he got a letter from the NFL about the debate dates. The NFL said that it never sent any letter to Trump.
Miller said that a source within the NFL notified Trump of the conflict with the football games, and when pressed by Stelter about the letter, said that “we are getting into semantics.”
