Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that he will participate in the Democratic debate hosted by MSNBC on Thursday in New Hampshire, backing down from his position held Tuesday when he suggested he would only attend if Hillary Clinton agreed to participate in three additional debates, including one in New York.
When asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" whether he would participate in the debate, Sanders responded, "The answer is yes," according to The Hill.
"And you know that I have always wanted more debates and secretary Clinton in the beginning was not so interested in more debates," Sanders continued. "Now suddenly they're very interested in more debates."
Sanders has for months been calling for the Democratic National Committee to sanction more debates, but Clinton refused to jump on board, leaving the decision up to the DNC. However, as her poll numbers began falling in New Hampshire in recent weeks, she called for another debate, presumably because "they're getting a little bit nervous," Sanders said. He insisted that he would only debate if Clinton agreed to three additional debate in the spring, which she finally agreed to in principle. But when Sanders asked her to commit to specific dates and times for the further debates, Clinton backed off, according to Politico.
"What I wanted to see is, on top of New Hampshire, three more debates," Sanders said Wednesday. "We were talking about California and Michigan, and I wanted New York City. Secretary Clinton represented New York. I thought it would be a good idea. For some reason, she's not interested in debating in New York."
On Tuesday, Clinton called Sanders' hand by saying that she would show up for Thursday's debate regardless of if Sanders attended.
Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said the Vermont senator's "respect for the voters of New Hampshire" trumped any other concerns, according to The Washington Post.
It will be the first time that Sanders and Clinton debate one-on-one. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley suspended his campaign Monday night after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses.
