An aide to Donald Trump raised the possibility that the candidate wouldn’t attend the next Republican debate unless the rules are changed.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, told the New York Times, “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.’”
Other campaigns have also expressed dissatisfaction with CNBC’s rules for the debate, which exclude opening and closing statements and don’t specify a length of time for the program. Lewandowski said it would be “imperative” for Trump to have the time set to 120 minutes.
The third Republican debate on CNBC is set to be held on October 28 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colorado.
[NYT]
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Michelle Zauner Stares Down the Darkness
Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com