The Young Turks online news network will give $1 million to charity if Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders agree to debate one another on its channel ahead of the California primary next month, host Cenk Uygur said Thursday.
Mr. Uygur, who launched the widely popular web series in 2002, reiterated his pledge Thursday evening during a dinner at the National Press Club in D.C., one day after the presumptive GOP presidential nominee discussed the possibility of debating Mr. Sanders for charity during an appearance Wednesday on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
“We are now offering $1 million to charity in order to have that debate,” Mr. Uygur told dinner guests the next night, The Hill reported. “This is a very real offer.”
On Twitter, Mr. Uygur said his network is “all in,” and promises to donate the sum to a charity of the candidates’ choice if they agree to debate on The Young Turks before the California primary on June 7.
Mr. Trump all but officially secured the GOP nomination this week after amassing the delegates needed to automatically earn the party’s nod during this summer’s Republican National Convention. Mr. Sanders, meanwhile, is hundreds of delegates behind Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and increasingly less likely to win the nomination, lowering the likelihood of a showdown with Mr. Trump before Election Day.
Following his appearance on “Kimmel,” however, the billionaire businessman said his campaign has been contacted by several networks interesting in airing the debate, including The Young Turks, The Hill reported.
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“It would be among the most watched debates in the world,” Mr. Uygur told Politico. “It would be a clash of the titans in terms of ideology from the right and the left without the establishment in the middle.
“They’re outsiders. We’re outsiders. They both complain about the establishment. We’re against the establishment,” he added. “There is no better place for two anti-establishment figures on the right and the left to debate than The Young Turks. Our whole bread and butter is fighting against the establishment.”
For his part, Mr. Sanders tweeted Thursday that he’s “delighted” Mr. Trump had agreed to debate and suggested holding the event “in the biggest stadium possible.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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