Donald Trump says he’d prefer to face Hillary Clinton one-on-one in the upcoming presidential debate.
“No, I’d rather [it] be Hillary and myself because we’re the only two with a chance of winning,” Mr. Trump told host Larry King in an interview that was carried by RT America when asked about the debate lineup.
Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein are both still working to get to the 15 percent polling threshold in national surveys they need to qualify for the opening Sept. 26 presidential debate.
Mr. Trump said he wasn’t sure how much Mr. Johnson’s gaffe on Thursday — when the former New Mexico governor had to ask what Aleppo was in an MSNBC interview — would actually hurt him.
“Well, I don’t know that it will hurt him that much, frankly,” Mr. Trump said.
It might hurt Mr. Johnson a little bit, “but I think he’ll scoot by,” he said.
“[It’s] not too much of a factor. They seem to be going down, the other two,” Mr. Trump said. “They seem to be going down a little bit. We’ll see what happens.”
Mr. Trump’s interview that aired on the Russia-backed news outlet comes as he faces criticism for lavishing praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Trump campaign told the AP the interview was done as a favor to Mr. King, the longtime broadcaster, and what he does with the content is up to him.
Mr. King told CNN Friday that RT pays Ora TV to broadcast the show and that RT has never exerted editorial control over it. Ora TV said neither Mr. King nor his producers are employed by RT America and that Ora Media, LLC. is solely responsible for the show’s editorial direction.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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