Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., claimed Sunday the party chose to have primary debates on weekend nights to reach as many American voters as possible.
“I did my best to make sure, along with my staff and along with our debate partners, to come up with a schedule that we felt was going … to maximize the opportunity for voters to see our candidates,” Wasserman Schultz said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
The Florida congresswoman defended the significantly lower number of debates Democrats have scheduled compared to Republicans.
Schultz said adding more debates to the schedule would “take away” from voters’ being able to see the three candidates at local events, even though rallies cannot occur at the same time as debates.
The chairwoman’s newest defense of the debate schedule defies a widespread assumption that the committee scheduled debates, including one on a Saturday night, to limit viewers in a bid to boost Hillary Clinton’s advance to the Democratic nomination.
The claim comes five months after Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders accused the DNC of developing a “rigged process” so voters cannot learn about lesser known candidates.
Democrats’ next debate is Sunday at 9 p.m. on NBC, competing with popular Sunday night shows, following a day featuring National Football League games.
