"The Sanders campaign needs to stop with the games," Clinton's national press secretary said. Sanders' team said the proposed dates ahead of the New York primaries "don't make a whole lot of sense."
CNN Politics:
Clinton campaign: Sanders playing 'games' with debate
Teterboro, New Jersey (CNN)Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on Saturday accused Bernie Sanders' operation of rejecting three New York debates that the Clinton campaign proposed.
Sanders' campaign has been calling for a debate before the state's April 19 primary since last week.
Brian Fallon, Clinton's national press secretary, said Saturday that Clinton's campaign offered to debate Sanders on April 4, 14 and 15, all of which were rejected.
"The Sanders campaign needs to stop with the games," Fallon said. "Over the course of the last week, we have offered three specific dates for a debate in New York, all of which the Sanders campaign rejected."
New York is a critical state for Sanders, a Brooklyn native. He is significantly behind Clinton in pledged delegates and while it looks likely he will in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, Sanders' top aides have been eying New York as a near must-win.
Clinton said in Wisconsin last week that the campaigns were working on solidifying a debate and Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, said Friday that the campaign was willing to debate in New York before the primary.
"The Sanders campaign needs to stop using the New York primary as a playground for political games and negative attacks against Hillary Clinton," Fallon added in his statement. "The voters of New York deserve better."
Interesting development today.