INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Bernie Sanders And Donald Trump Agree On Debate – Proceeds Of Face-Off To Be Donated To Charity, Asks Trump, While Sanders Responds To Challenge [Video]

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 23:11 PST, May 25, 2016

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump may soon be seen sharing a stage for a much-anticipated debate. While the billionaire real estate tycoon expressed his willingness to a deliberation with Sanders, the latter wasted no time in accepting the challenge.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders effectively agreed Wednesday night to share the podium for a debate with each other. Donald Trump was speaking with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! when he confirmed he’d be willing to debate Bernie Sanders in California “for charity.” Within a few short hours of Trump’s acceptance, Sanders tweeted he was ready for a discussion.

Jimmy Kimmel asked Trump if he was willing to debate Senator Bernie Sanders ahead of California’s primary. Kimmel merely queried Trump if he would consider holding a debate with Sanders, perhaps expecting a rejection, especially because Hillary Clinton rejected a Democratic debate invitation from Fox News. However, instead of shooting down the idea, the candidate astonishingly went along with the concept and agreed. Donald Trump even added that he was open to the idea as long as Sanders donated to a charity.

“If he paid a sum toward charity I would love to do that.”

Trump put forth another altruistic condition, stating he would certainly debate Sanders as long as the hosting network was willing to donate the entire revenue generated thought airing the debate and the event to charity. He was referring to the ad revenue proceeds. Donald Trump is acutely aware that a Sanders-Trump debate “would have such high ratings,” reported NBC News.

Not wasting any time to mull over the idea, Sanders quickly responded through a tweet that he was ready for the challenge and he looked forward to “debating Donald Trump.” The tweet was meant to convey an interesting jab at Hillary Clinton. Bernie’s Democrat competitor, Clinton, had declined to debate Sanders in a previously agreed upon California debate. It was Clinton’s communications director Jennifer Palmieri who justified the refusal for debate with a written statement that stated that her candidate’s time was “best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California.”

Clinton was recently criticized for backing out of a debate with Sanders, especially because she had previously agreed in February to four additional presidential debates. Sanders’ campaign was very much looking forward to the debate which was supposed to be held in California. The state is quite critical owing to the fact that it has the most pledged delegates at stake out of all states and territories.

After hearing about the refusal from Clinton, Sanders said he was “disturbed but not surprised” that Clinton “backed out of the debate.” So far there has been no reaction from the Clinton campaign, reported CBS News. The venue, host, and time of the hypothetical debate haven’t been decided yet. However, given the fact that both the candidates have confirmed their willingness to debate, the much-anticipated discussion could be arranged in the coming two weeks before the June 7 contest, reported US Uncut.

Fox News had originally raised the idea of a Trump-Sanders debate in February.

During the conversation with Kimmel, Trump candidly confessed that he had never met Bernie Sanders. Besides the debate with Bernie Sanders, Kimmel tried to get Trump’s opinion and clarity on his views about the hotly discussed topic of transgender bathrooms. Earlier, when North Carolina passed its controversial law on the matter, Trump had said the move could hurt businesses in the state. However, within a few short days, Trump changed his stance and said that it was up to the states to decide. When Kimmel persisted and asked Trump what he thought “the right thing” was, the latter said, “I don’t know yet… Honestly, I don’t know.”

According to Associated Press, R&B singer The Weeknd and rapper Belly canceled their schedule performance on the show after learning that Trump would also be appearing.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

Share this article: Bernie Sanders And Donald Trump Agree On Debate – Proceeds Of Face-Off To Be Donated To Charity, Asks Trump, While Sanders Responds To Challenge [Video]
jimmy kimmel bernie sanders Donald Trump
More from Inquisitr