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A preliminary schedule for general election debates has been set since September, 2015. | AP Photo

Trump accuses Clinton of rigging debate schedule

Donald Trump late Friday accused Hillary Clinton of intentionally stacking debates against primetime programming to “rig” the election process, despite the fact that the schedule has been set since last September.

“As usual, Hillary & the Dems are trying to rig the debates so 2 are up against major NFL games. Same as last time w/ Bernie. Unacceptable!” Trump tweeted late Friday night.


The criticism echoes claims made by the Bernie Sanders campaign and its supporters, who openly griped about debate schedules clashing with popular television programming or being buried on weekends.

The preliminary debate schedule for the general election has been set since September, 2015, by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The schedule includes a Sunday night debate on Oct. 9 that will air concurrently with an NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the North Carolina Panthers.