Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he wants to ‘debate very badly’ with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but will first see ‘terms and conditions’ of the three presidential debates scheduled for September and October.
“I will absolutely do three debates. I want to debate very badly. But I have to see the conditions,” Trump told The Time magazine on Tuesday.
Trump said that he had haggled with television networks over the terms of debates held during the GOP primary and might do so again.
"I renegotiated the debates in the primaries, remember? They were making a fortune on them and they had us in for three and a half hours and I said that's ridiculous. I am sure they'll be open to any suggestions I have, because I think they'll be very fair suggestions. But I haven't (seen the conditions) yet. They're actually presented to me tonight," he said.
Trump also said he reserved the right to object to the commission's choice of moderators, which have not yet been announced.
"I'll have to see who the moderators are. Yeah, I would say that certain moderators would be unacceptable, absolutely. I did very well in the debates on the primaries. According to the polls, I won all of them. So I look forward to the debates. But, yeah, I want to have fair moderators. I will demand fair moderators," he said.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan organization that has sponsored and produced general-election debates since the late 1980s, has scheduled three debates this fall: September 26 in Hempstead,; October 9 in St. Louis; and October 19 in Las Vegas.
There is one vice-presidential debate on the docket, in Farmville, Virginia on October 4.
Debate is considered the most significant part of the US presidential elections, which very often decides the fate of a candidate.
