Donald Trump Threatens To Boycott CNBC’s GOP Debate Over Opening/Closing

Steve Duprey of Concord, who chairs the RNC’s 2016 Debate Committee, said he was not on the Thursday call, but he said he was aware that the campaigns were unanimously in favor of having opening and closing statements in the next debate.

Reps for the two candidates said in the letter to CNBC Washington bureau chief Matthew Cuddy: “Mr. Trump and Dr. Carson do agree to a 120 minute debate that includes commercial breaks and opening and closing statements. Further the debate must include opening and closing statements from all the candidates”.

CNBC proposed to prevent candidates from being able to give opening and closing statements in an effort to have more time for questions and answers.

Trump, the GOP frontrunner, has attracted an unprecedented level of attention for the party’s primary since declaring his candidacy this summer, nearly single-handedly turning the first two debates into ratings behemoths.

After Lewandowski spoke, others chimed in – including Beth Hansen, who called the conference call a “debacle”.

According to Politico’s account of the call – as verified by three unnamed sources – the conversation quickly devolved after two top RNC officials asked for each candidate’s “red line” for circumstances that would force candidates to skip the debate. (CNBC, which is hosting the debate on October 28, reportedly chose to forgo those statements.) But most important, he wanted to keep it short-likely because Trump noticeably flagged after three hours of standing.

Trump also seems hellbent, for which we are thankful, on making sure no GOP debate runs as long as did the last one.

On Wednesday’s “Tonight Show”, the Republican front-runners shared their reactions over the phone – OK, so it was actually Jimmy Fallon and David Alan Grier doing their best Trump and Carson impressions. Letting him do that at the same time that he’s dictating the terms under which he’ll do so just plays right into his hands.