Sanders tells Kimmel he has offers to host Trump debate

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – It was Bernie Sanders’ turn to take the chair on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday, one day after Donald Trump appeared on the show and said he would be willing to debate Sanders before the June 7 primary in six states, including California.

Unlike Trump’s visit, there were no protesters gathered outside the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard tonight. Inside, Kimmel took full credit for raising the idea of a Trump-Sanders debate in the first place — and he volunteered to moderate the event. (Failing that, or perhaps in addition, he also volunteered to be Sanders’ running mate, a proposal he had also made to Trump.)

Sanders appeared to take the possibility seriously (of the debate, not adding Kimmel to the ticket), saying he looked forward to “a very interesting debate by two guys who look at the world very, very differently.”

Among the networks that have contacted him with offers to host such a debate is Kimmel’s network, ABC, Sanders said. Sanders did not address Trump’s requirement that the debate raise $10 million for charity.

The debate ball got rolling the night before when Kimmel asked Sanders for a question to ask Trump when he appeared, and that question was, “Hillary Clinton backed out of an agreement to debate me in California before the June 7 primary. Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country prior to the California primary?”

Tonight Kimmel read Sanders a question from Trump: “Bernie, you have been treated very unfairly. Both primary systems are rigged,” it began. “Will you run as an independent when Debra Wasserman Schultz and the Democrats steal the nomination from you?”

Laughing, Sanders responded: “I really do appreciate his concern for me. I know that comes straight from his heart. What I hope will happen is I will run against him as the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. And if that does happen, I will beat him and beat him bad.”