Democratic
presidential candidate Martin O'Malley lambasted the Democratic
National Committee on Tuesday for holding too few debates and accused
the DNC of orchestrating the schedule to "circle the wagons" in support
of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
O'Malley,
the former governor of Maryland, charged that the DNC was scheduling
debates so they would be hidden "behind football games and 'Frosty the
Snowman'."
"The party leaders -- or I
should say the party leader -- Debbie Wassermann Schultz is doing a
terrible disservice to the public ... we are the Democratic Party, not
the undemocratic party," O'Malley said in an interview on MSNBC's
"Morning Joe."
The third and most
recent Democratic debate took place on Saturday, December 19 in New
Hampshire -- during an NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New
York Jets.
"Frosty the Snowman" aired nationally on Saturday, November 28 on CBS during which time there was no debate taking place.
"I
believe people understand that just as their economy is rigged, so,
too, sometimes can be their politics," said O'Malley, who has frequently
blasted the debate schedule.
The DNC
has defended the number and timing of the six debates, the next of which
is set for Sunday, January 17 in South Carolina.
"We're
giving them a variety of opportunities to see our candidates while
preserving their ability to be out on the campaign trail, so that they
can get up close and personal with voters," Wasserman Schultz told CNN's
Wolf Blitzer earlier this month.
O'Malley,
who is running in the single digits behind Bernie Sanders and Hillary
Clinton, expressed optimism that voters would rally around his campaign.
"I believe that people are going to
surprise the pundits and the bigwigs in Washington who thought they were
cheated by trying to limit these debates," he said.
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