For some Democrats, Bernie Sanders’ latest gambit — challenging Donald Trump to a debate to cap all debates — is the last straw.

“Bullshit,” said Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. “That confirms what we’ve been saying. Why would you expect Bernie should be considerate or be nice or be working to bring everyone together? Why? He’s not a Democrat.”


The party’s frustrations are boiling over with Sanders as the primary season winds down: Namely that Sanders seems unwilling or unable to admit that Hillary Clinton is on course for the nomination. The ire toward Sanders began earlier this year among the loudest Democratic cheerleaders for Clinton — and now it’s seeping into nearly the entire Senate Democratic caucus.

Lawmakers reacted with puzzlement, sarcasm and barely veiled anger as Sanders’ campaign and Trump himself played up an event that would exclude Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“I don’t know why he would do that. I think it’s time to start to winding down the primary,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). “It’s time to move on.”

“It’s peculiar,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “It’s all about Bernie trying to get the advantage in California. It’s not going to work.”

A minority of Democratic lawmakers, though, said they’d be fine with Sanders going toe-to-toe with Trump on TV, if only to unmask the Republican nominee as a false advocate for working people. They said Trump was never sufficiently challenged on his prescriptions for the economy during the primary, with all the attention on his insults.

“The more Donald Trump gets exposed in the context of public policy, the better it is for our country,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

“It’s a good idea,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state. “The economic future of our country needs to be debated.”

Senate Democrats have been shadow-boxing with Sanders for months, praising the movement he has built but gently reminding him that Clinton is the favorite and that math is not on Sanders’ side. But Sanders has been defiant, spurning requests for apologies after his supporters erupted at Nevada’s Democratic Convention earlier this month and stoking the debate with Trump.

Sanders’ Twitter account has been hyping the proposed debate, an idea his campaign initiated by planting a question with Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday night when Trump was a guest. Surrogates dared Trump not to “chicken out.”

Trump, unsurprisingly, has sent conflicting signals — at first saying he'd do it, then calling that a joke, and finally on Thursday saying he'd participate only if the event raised at least $10 million for charity.

Left out of the conversation altogether, of course, is Clinton, who recently declined to debate Sanders ahead of California's June 7 primary. With no Democratic debate, Sanders seems to be looking for any way to keep up his campaign’s momentum.

A showdown between the fiery senator and the bombastic real estate mogul would be must-watch TV and possibly the most-hyped media spectacle of this crazy campaign year.

On Thursday, the potential Sanders-Trump match-up was all the chatter of the political class. Democrats don’t think Trump will go through with it.

“I mean. Why? It would draw attention to Bernie. I can understand Bernie wanting to do it. But why would Donald want to do it?” asked a perplexed Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

Added a Democratic senator: “It’s a stunt … Trump won’t go through with it, and Bernie has literally nothing to lose.”

The tense relations between Sanders and fellow members of the Senate Democratic Caucus also raises questions as to what his interactions will be like once he returns to the Senate.

Asked during a brief interview this week at the Capitol when her husband would return to the Senate, Jane Sanders responded, “After the 8th.” But she quickly backtracked and said, “I don’t know.” California and a host of other states are holding their contests on June 7. A Sanders campaign spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment to clarify Jane Sanders’ comments.

As for the possible debate, Sanders’ lone surrogate in the Senate, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, was unaware his candidate had challenged Trump. But after a reporter described the sequence of events, Merkley said he was “looking forward” to the two men sharing the stage.

“Here is Trump, who is posing as a defender of working Americans and he hasn’t done one thing for working Americans his entire lifetime,” Merkley said. “It’d be a very interesting and worthwhile conversation.”

Other Democrats, frustrated by the continued sniping within the party as Trump sets his sights on Clinton, said the debate ploy smelled of desperation on Sanders' part.

“What he’s trying to do," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), "is bring attention to himself."