Why Donald Trump Believes Hillary Clinton Used NFL Games To Rig Debates

With the presidential election heating up, Donald Trump is all over the news these days. And it appears the NFL has gotten caught in his crossfire.

The Republican nominee for president created a stir Friday night when he sent out a tweet directed at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

As usual, Hillary & the Dems are trying to rig the debates so 2 are up against major NFL games. Same as last time w/ Bernie. Unacceptable!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2016

In essence, Trump is accusing Clinton of scheduling their debates to coincide with major NFL games in an attempt to decrease viewership.

Two of the three presidential debates are on the same nights as NFL games: Monday, Sept. 26 (New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football”) and Sunday, Oct. 9 (Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football”).

As For The Win points out, however, the date for each presidential debate was set back in Sept. 2015 by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan group that includes both Republicans and Democrats.

Trump claimed he even received a letter from the NFL complaining about the conflict, but CNN’s Brian Stelter reports that the league sent no such letter to Trump.

Top @NFL spokesman tells me: "While we'd obviously wish the debate commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Trump."

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 30, 2016

Stelter also reports that Trump was made aware of the conflicting dates, and that the 2012 presidential debates also were scheduled against NFL games but still received high ratings.

UPDATE (1:20 p.m.): The Commission on Presidential Debates has responded to Trump’s claims in a statement.