October 15, 2015

Donald Trump threw a hissy fit today, and Ben Carson joined him. It's nursery school over on the Republican side as they hammer out the details of their next whinefest debate. They ought to just cancel it altogether, but instead there's this nonsense.

Donald Trump and Ben Carson are both threatening to boycott the next Republican presidential debate if CNBC, who is hosting the event, and the Republican National Committee do not change the stated format of the event.

"Neither Mr. Trump or Dr. Carson will participate in your debate if it is longer than 120 minutes including commercials and does not include opening and closing statements," the letter, obtained exclusively by NBC News and signed by both candidates, reads.

Boo-effing-hoo.

They're just working the refs, trying to move the goalposts.

They take issue with CNBC's plans for a debate that doesn't include opening and closing statements, and runs two hours plus up to another 16 minutes in commercial breaks. According to Politico, CNBC distributed a memo outlining these plans that indicated all candidates had agreed to them.

In the letter, the candidates write that "neither of our campaigns agreed to either the length you propose or your ban on opening or closing statements. In fact, neither of our campaigns were even consulted."

Here's the moment where cable news needs to decide if they're in it for the money or for the civic engagement. Anyone want to take bets on which it will be?

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