HILARY CLINTON AND BERNIE SANDERS SET DATE FOR NEXT DEBATE

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Set Date for Next Debate   

       

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Todd Heisler/The New York Times Senator Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton at a debate hosted by Univision last month in Miami.

The debate about the next Democratic debate is, finally, settled.

After weeks of bickering over semantics, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders have agreed to meet for a debate on April 14 in Brooklyn, less than a week before New Yorkers head to the polls for the critical April 19 primary.

The agreement was announced by CNN, which will host the debate. 

It follows weeks of public squabbling, with the Sanders campaign urging a debate before the New York primary and the Clinton team saying it had agreed only to a debate sometime in April.

Tensions were apparently still a little raw even after the agreement. Moments after CNN made the debate official, the Sanders campaign released a statement saying it was glad Mrs. Clinton “finally agreed,” and pointed to the logistical challenges it overcame.

“Fortunately, we were able to move a major New York City rally scheduled for April 14 to the night before,” Michael Briggs, a spokesman for the Sanders campaign, said in a statement, referring to a campaign event in Washington Square Park in Manhattan. “We hope the debate will be worth the inconvenience for thousands of New Yorkers who were planning to attend our rally on Thursday but will have to change their schedules to accommodate Secretary Clinton’s jam-packed, high-dollar, coast-to-coast schedule of fundraisers all over the country.”

The Clinton campaign pointed out that April 14 was the date it initially suggested, but one the Sanders campaign balked at, citing its previously scheduled rally.

“We had thought the Sanders campaign would have accepted our offer for a Brooklyn debate on April 14 in a New York minute, but it ended up taking a few extra days for them to agree,” Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said in an email. “We are glad they did. We are grateful to have both NY1 and the Daily News sponsoring this debate, ensuring a New York focus to the discussion.”

The debate will be moderated by Wolf Blitzer, airing from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern. The network will team with NY1, and Dana Bash of CNN and Errol Louis of NY1 will also be on the panel.