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Clinton and Sanders finally set a date to debate in New York on April 14
By Bonnie K. Goodman
April 4, 2016 11:01 PM MST
After much, back and forth on Monday, April 4, 2016, Democratic candidates former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have set a date for the next debate. The debate to be held before the April 19 New York primary in Brooklyn on April 14 to be telecast on CNN and NY1 and to be moderated by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. CNN announced Monday afternoon that the candidates agreed to the debate time and place.
The Debate will air on both CNN and NY1 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Both are Time Warner cable channels; NY1 is New York’s 24-hour cable news channel. This debate will be Blitzer third time moderating a debate this primary season; he previously moderated two GOP debates. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash and NY1 political anchor Errol Louis will join Blitzer at the debate. Bash and Louis will also ask the candidates questions. The debate is being held at the Duggal Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The decision on the April 14 date comes reluctantly after the two campaigns fought over the time for the debate. In February, the Sanders campaign initially asked for a debate to be held in New York before the primary. The campaigns, however, could not agree on a date. Sanders wanted to debate on any of the days from April 10 through 13, but Clinton was insistent it had to be April 14. April 14 was the same day that Sanders had secured a permit for a rally at Washington Square Park in the evening. Clinton was also open to a debate on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on April 15. Sanders wanted the debate held in Brooklyn and originally agreed “to an NBC debate on April 10.”
On Sunday, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs issued a statement about Clinton’s lack of flexibility on the debate date. Briggs said, “The Clinton campaign disingenuously announced that it had agreed to a debate on another day when it knew very well that Sen. Sanders already had locked in a park permit for a major rally in New York City. Let’s get serious. Let’s get on with debating the candidates’ stands on serious issues affecting New York and the United States.”
Although New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio supports Clinton he tweeted a compromise, telling Sanders, “Let’s make @NY1 4/14 BKLYN debate happen “@BernieSanders: I’ll help you secure any permit you need to ensure your NYC rally can happen too.” The mayor’s invite allowed Clinton to win the date, something the Sanders campaign was not going to let her forget. Negotiations continued deep into the day on Monday. The Democratic National Committee is sanctioning the debate, but Sanders was insistent that the New York State Democratic Party not be involved.
In their official statements both the Clinton and Sanders, campaigns jabbed each other over the compromise and difficult negotiations. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs issued a statement Monday evening, saying, “Fortunately, we were able to move a major New York City rally scheduled for April 14 to the night before. We hope the debate will be worth the inconvenience for thousands of New Yorkers who were planning to attend our rally on Thursday but will have to change their schedules to accommodate Secretary Clinton’s jam-packed, high-dollar, coast-to-coast schedule of fundraisers all over the country.”
Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign mocked Sanders for not agreeing to her date sooner. The statement read, “We had thought the Sanders campaign would have accepted our offer for a Brooklyn debate on April 14 in a New York minute, but it ended up taking a few extra days for them to agree. We are glad they did. We are grateful to have both NY1 and the Daily News sponsoring this debate, ensuring a New York focus to the discussion.”
This the first time the two Democratic candidates will debate since the March 9 Univision-Washington Post debate. The April 14 debate is the third of four additional debates the candidates agreed in participating. MSNBC hosted the first debate in New Hampshire, CNN hosted the second debate in Flint, Michigan and held in March while the last one will be in May.
