Trump accuses Clinton of rigging debate schedule

Washington, July 30  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused rival 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 and the Democrats are trying to rig the debates so two are up against major NFL games. Same as last time with Bernie (Sanders). Unacceptable!” Trump tweeted late Friday night.

The criticism echoed 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, Politico reported.

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 October 9 that will air concurrently with a National Football League game between the Green Bay Packers and the North Carolina Panthers.