Bernie Sanders Calls Democratic Presidential Debate Format ‘Demeaning’

On Tuesday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders critiqued the format of the Democratic presidential debate for its inability to give candidates the ability to discuss difficult topics — like health care — with nuance. “You shouldn’t even call them a debate. What they are is a reality TV show in which you have to come up with a soundbite and all that stuff. It is demeaning,” Sanders told Rogan. “It’s demeaning to the candidates and it’s demeaning to the American people.” In a set of rules that CNN announced ahead of the televised debates, the network stated that candidates would receive 60 seconds to respond to questions from the moderators and 30 seconds for any responses or rebuttals when named by another candidate. NBC, which hosted the first round of debates in June, similarly gave candidates 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for responses but did not allow any time for any opening statements. Also Read: Bernie Sanders Says 3 People Are Wealthier Than Half of All Americans. Here's Who They Are When asked by Rogan on why the debate formats were structured in such a way, Sanders acknowledged that the...