Donald Trump may boycott the next GOP debate hosted by CNBC in Boulder, Colo., unless some of the criteria are changed.
The debate, set for Oct. 28, currently does not feature opening and closing statements and also does not have a set time length, which multiple candidates, including Trump, are not pleased with, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
During a Thursday conference call about the debate, Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, said: “The criteria that was outlined by CNBC was never discussed with any of the candidates or the campaigns. 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.’ ”
Lewandowski, according to The Times, said it was “imperative” the debate time be 120 minutes because Trump was not pleased the CNN event lasted nearly three hours.
Trump also took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
The @GOP should not agree to the ridiculous debate terms that @CNBC is asking unless there is a major benefit to the party.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2015
.@CNBC is pushing the @GOP around by asking for extra time (and no criteria) in order to sell more commercials.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2015
A spokeswoman for Trump did not immediately return a request for comment.
The previous two GOP presidential-primary debates, one on Fox News and the other on CNN, shattered viewership records, with many attributing the numbers to people tuning in to watch Trump.
