WASHINGTON — (CNN) 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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