The intra-party battle over the nature, number and timing of the Democrat presidential debates escalated this week after at least two prominent members of the DNC publicly called for more debates.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and RT Rybak, former mayor of Minneapolis, argued that the DNC should remove restrictions on candidates barring their participation in non-sanctioned debate forums.
Similar to the RNC’s dicta, the rules threaten candidates with removal from the six officially approved debates if they participate in any outside events.
The joint statement adds fuel to the fire already brewing after Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Martin O’Malley’s continued criticism of how DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is handling the debate schedule.
O’Malley has gone so far as to suggest that Schultz has constructed the limited debate schedule in order to favor Hillary Clinton’s path to the nomination.
