Bernie Sanders accepted Fox News’ invitation to a California debate and encouraged Hillary Clinton’s campaign to follow through with a pledge to participate in five before the primaries end.
“More than halfway through the month of May, we hope Secretary Clinton will soon make good on her campaign’s commitment and agree to a time and place for a debate,” Sanders campaign manager John Weaver said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. “There are issues of enormous importance facing the people of California and our nation, and the people of our largest state deserve to hear the Democratic candidates’ opinions.”
Both Democratic candidates agreed to an additional five debates outside of the ones originally scheduled by the DNC, and so far have only participated in four. Fox News sent letters to the candidates on Tuesday requesting their presence in a primary debate at a to-be-determined date in California. The San Francisco Chronicle has also expressed interest in co-hosting the event.
In the past, most presidential primary nominating contests are long over by the time California votes, but this year neither Clinton nor Sanders have yet reached the necessary 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.
After winning the Indiana primary on May 3, the Sanders campaign similarly called on Clinton to agree to a California debate, stating that if “the Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over, they’re wrong.”
After Tuesday night’s primaries in Oregon and Kentucky, Clinton leads Sanders in pledged delegates 1,768-1,494, but once superdelegates are taken into account, she leads him 2,293-1,553.
