Backs out of a televised debate with Bernie Sanders as “inappropriate” after hyping the idea

After publicly flirting with the idea of debating Bernie Sanders in late May 2016—going so far as to banter about it on TV and say he would be willing “if we can raise for charity”—Trump abruptly reversed course on May 27 and announced that he would not participate. He said it would be “inappropriate” to debate the “second-place finisher” in the Democratic race and insisted he would instead wait for Hillary Clinton. The reversal let him lap up days of flattering media coverage about a cross-party spectacle while ducking the risk of facing Sanders, and it foreshadowed his habit of treating debates and public forums as leverage or stunts rather than commitments. The incident shows him baiting opponents and the press with a headline-grabbing promise and then casually walking away once it stopped serving his interests.

"It seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher. I will wait to debate the first-place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton." — Statement released May 27, 2016, after days of publicly entertaining a televised debate with Bernie Sanders, in which Trump backed out by calling such a debate “inappropriate” and saying he would wait for Hillary Clinton instead