After Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told Jimmy Kimmel that he would be willing to debate Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders — if Sanders or a television network airing the debate would donate money to charity — one of Sanders’ most ardent digital supporters has weighed in with a lofty offer.
Cenk Uygur, host and co-founder of The Young Turks, said that the digital news network would donate $1 million to charity if Trump and Sanders debated on its airwaves before the California primary. “We’re all in,” tweeted Uygur, who has interviewed Sanders before and is also sitting down with him this evening at 6 p.m. EST for a discussion that will be broadcast live on The Young Turks’ YouTube and Facebook pages.
Uygur, who has been introducing Sanders at rallies across California in recent weeks ahead of the primary on June 7, also noted that The Young Turks had reached out to both Sanders’ and Trump’s camps about a cross-partisan debate — which would be the first of its kind this election season.
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However, if a debate is going to happen, The Young Turks may have to up its offer. Trump said he would debate Sanders “if we can raise $10 million or $15 million for charity, which would be a very appropriate amount,” according to Politico. Trump also suggested that funds be donated to “women’s health issues.”
Whether or not the debate comes to pass, the election cycle has already done wonders for The Young Turks’ viewership. In terms of desktop unique viewers aged 13 to 24, the network — which says it gets 86 million unique views per month — came it at number one on a comScore ranking of political news destinations. TYT bested bold-faced competitors including CNN Politics, Salon, Fox News Politics, and MSNBC TV, according to comScore.
