Trump Now Threatens to Boycott CNBC
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Another day, another Donald Trump boycott of a TV network.
Trump is threatening to boycott the next Republican primary debate, which is to air on CNBC, over frustration with the format.
The debate, which will be hosted by CNBC on Oct. 28 in Boulder, Colo., does not allow the candidates to make opening and closing statements, nor does it set a fixed time for how long the contest will last.
Without Trump, the debate will likely draw much less viewers for CNBC.
“The criteria that was outlined by CNBC was never discussed with any of the candidates or the campaigns,” Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told The New York Times. “So what CNBC did was send out a memo and said, ‘Here’s the criteria as you have approved them’ and that went out to all the campaigns. We said we never agreed to this criteria.”
Trump expressed unhappiness with the three-hour length of the second GOP debate hosted by CNN, and wants to ensure that the next debate isn't allowed to drag on.
CNN extended the debate to 3 hours so it could sell more commercials. It appears that CNBC wants to do something similar.
“For us it was imperative that the time be changed to 120 minutes,” Lewandowski said.
Brian Steel, a spokesman for CNBC, told The Hill in a statement that the network typically eschews opening statements "to allow more time to address the critical issues that matter most."
"We started a dialogue yesterday with all of the campaigns involved and we will certainly take the candidates’ views on the format into consideration as we finalize the debate structure," Steel said.
In other words, look for CNBC to change their debate plans to make sure Trump shows up.
Stay tuned...
