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Trump: I'll debate Bernie for $10 million
The Vermont senator is goading the presumptive Republican nominee into a prime-time showdown.
By Nick Gass
05/26/16 09:01 AM EDT
Updated 05/26/16 05:48 PM EDT
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Donald Trump on Thursday more emphatically accepted Bernie Sanders' challenge to debate him, but it comes with a price tag: $10 million.
The Vermont senator, who is trying to make a last stand in the final throes of the Democratic primary, on Wednesday planted a question with Jimmy Kimmel, asking the presumptive Republican nominee to debate him before the June 7 California primary.
Trump said he would, if the proceeds go to charity.
Since then, Sanders and his deputies have been goading Trump to fully commit, with Sanders’ campaign manager even taunting that he better not “chicken out.”
Speaking with reporters during a news conference in North Dakota on Thursday afternoon, Trump said the debate is on. Probably.
"He's a dream," Trump said about Sanders. Then he laid out what the arrangement might look like: "What we'll do is raise maybe for, maybe women's health issues or something, if we can raise $10 million or $15 million for charity, which would be a very appropriate amount. I understand the television business very well."
But he also sought to provide a reality check, even as Sanders attempts to create an alternate reality in which Trump is girding to battle Sanders in the general election, not Hillary Clinton.
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"I'd love to debate Bernie. The problem is he's going to lose" in the primary, Trump said. "Honestly, his system is rigged just like our system is rigged. If I didn't win by massive majorities, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you today. I knocked out every opponent. You have to knock out and Bernie, unfortunately, hasn't been able to knock out, but the superdelegates for the Democrats so — I mean, it's so unfair."
"So the problem, biggest problem is that Bernie's not going to win, but I would debate him anyway if they wanted to put up money for charity," Trump said. "So we'll see. We have had a couple of calls from the networks already and we'll see."
While Trump is holding out on a firm commitment, Sanders and his deputies are working overtime to make the idea of a debate more than just a late-night joke.
"I am delighted that @realDonaldTrump has agreed to debate. Let’s do it in the biggest stadium possible," Sanders tweeted shortly after Trump wrapped up his news conference.
He then followed up with some bold proclamations at his rally in Ventura, California.
"We asked Donald Trump if he would be prepared to debate. And it appears that Donald Trump is prepared to debate. And I’m very excited about it and I think we’re going to have to rent out the largest stadium you have here in California," Sanders said.
The Vermont senator went on to detail the issues he would hammer Trump on: tax breaks, climate change, wages, and insults to certain demographic groups.
"I thank Mr. Trump for agreeing to a debate, and I look forward to it and I look forward to defeating him and becoming the Democratic nominee," Sanders told the crowd.
The Republican National Committee also appeared to give a blessing, of sorts, to the showdown, with spokesman Sean Spicer saying it would be “phenomenal.”
“Well, I think if it did, it would be a huge contrast in the direction of this country. I think when you look at what Sanders is offering, the only thing that Bernie Sanders offers is another flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It's a far-left socialist agenda,” Spicer told CNN.
Spicer also managed to get in a knock on Hillary Clinton, who declined an invitation to debate Sanders on Fox News ahead of California’s primary.
“So I think it would be a phenomenal debate if it happened. The other thing that's odd, by the way, is that Hillary Clinton refuses to fulfill her promise to debate Bernie Sanders, so there is a void because Hillary Clinton refuses to actually keep her word and do what she said and debate in California against Bernie Sanders.”
It’s unclear whether the debate will actually materialize, especially because it appears Sanders is pushing the idea so hard.
Kimmel told Trump that it was Sanders who offered up the question about whether he would be up for a public showdown, and the Vermont senator quickly tweeted after Trump’s remarks aired.
"Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary,” he messaged.
On Thursday, Sanders’ campaign manager was on TV, goading Trump into the debate.
"Well, let's see if he has the courage to get on a stage with Bernie Sanders and go one on one about the important issues facing the country. That'd be the real test,” Jeff Weaver said on MSNBC.
Then there was the candidate himself, pushing the idea as he sat down for a social media town hall with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Revolt TV.
"Donald Trump has agreed to debate me, and I look forward to that. Hillary Clinton has not agreed to debate me here in California, so I look forward to debating Mr. Trump," Sanders said. "I hope that one of the major networks will be prepared to sponsor that debate."
It’s not hard to see why Sanders would be interested in such a prime-time tussle. With the Democratic primary winding down, the Vermont senator is forcefully resisting not-so-subtle calls for him to drop out.
He’s eager to prove his point in California, where polls show him in a virtual dead heat with Clinton.
And what better way to get a big prime-time audience than to go toe-to-toe with Trump?
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As for those networks, which have scrambled to pick up as many debates and town halls as possible, a Trump and Sanders debate would be a ratings bonanza. Officially, none of the networks had any comment as of Thursday afternoon, and some network sources said on background that they're trying to figure out whether Trump is even serious about participating. Fox News first proposed a Trump-Sanders debate back in March, though the Republican candidate pulled out citing scheduling conflicts.
During his interview with Kimmel on Thursday night, Trump acquiesced to the agreement, but with strings attached.
“Have you met Bernie? Have you guys ever met before?” Kimmel inquired.
Trump responded, “I’ve never really had the privilege.”
“I see, OK. So here’s the question from Bernie: He asked, ‘Hillary Clinton backed out,'” Kimmel began, before launching into an impression of Sanders, “'Hillary Clinton backed out of an agreement to debate me in California before the June 7 primary. Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country before the California primary?' Yes or no, he wants to know if you will debate him.”
Trump responded quickly, “Yes I am,” before asking, “How much is he going to pay me?”
“You would — you would do it for a price? What would that price be?” Kimmel asked.
The presumptive Republican nominee, who held a fundraiser for veterans in Iowa in late January rather than participate in Fox News’ debate, speculated that “some worthy charity” should benefit from the telecast because it “would have such high ratings.”
“So if it was done for charity you would agree to do that?” Kimmel asked.
“If he paid a nice sum for the charity, I would love to do that,” Trump responded.
When asked if the hypothetical network were to put up the money for the charity, Trump welcomed that as a possibility as well.
“In fact, I've been saying that should happen anyway. You know, when we did the Republican debates," the Fox debate "had 24 million people, the largest in the history of cable television,” the former reality star reminded the audience. “CNN three weeks later had 23 million people, the largest in the history of CNN. Think of it. CNN with the wars and all the things they cover, it's the largest audience they've ever had. The largest audience ever on cable was Fox a couple of weeks before. And I must say, you know, I think I had a lot to do with that, OK?”
He continued, “But I said why aren't we getting paid for this, and give the money to charity, and I actually, as you know, I've been saying this for a long time, get paid, give the money to charities, pick good charities and give the money to charity.”
And yet, CBS News cited “multiple sources” on Thursday saying that Trump was only pulling Sanders’ leg.
"Well, I didn’t think it was a joke. I saw it. I thought it was serious. We are ready to debate Donald Trump, we hope that he will not chicken out," Weaver told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Weaver declined to get into specifics on CNN but said that the campaign has heard from "I think, every network."
As far as the charity stipulation, Blitzer pointed out that Sanders "has been active in veterans organizations."
"Well, we haven't really discussed that," Weaver said. "Although I would say that Sen. Sanders has been a leading advocate for veterans in the Congress his entire career. He was chairman of Veterans Affairs Committee, and he worked with John McCain in a bipartisan way to pass the most sweeping veterans health care reform legislation in a generation when he was chairman of that committee. The senator is very fond of veterans. I’m sure if the issue is which charity it goes to, we can figure that out."
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but senior adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders told MSNBC that the prospect of the debate "just goes to show that Donald Trump is not afraid of Bernie Sanders nearly as much as Hillary Clinton is, who refuses to debate Bernie."
"If she can't handle the guys in her own party, how do we expect her to take on foreign leaders that are probably much more aggressive than Bernie Sanders," Huckabee Sanders added. "Whether it happens or not, I think we're all waiting to see about that. But Donald Trump certainly is happy to debate Bernie Sanders, I think, at any point."
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