Twenty-plus candidates jockeying for a few seconds of speaking time during the 2020 Democratic primary debates is “demeaning,” according to one of them, Bernie Sanders, who griped about the format this week.

In an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” Tuesday, the Democrat said of the spectacle: “You shouldn’t even call them a debate. What they are is a reality TV show in which you have to come up with a soundbite and all that stuff.

“It’s demeaning to the candidates and it’s demeaning to the American people. You can’t explain the complexity of health care in America in 45 seconds, nobody can.”

The Vermont senator got candid while responding to a question on whether he got frustrated by the time constraints placed on candidates during the debates.

When asked why the debates were held this way, Sanders came to the defense of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

“I think the DNC is in a difficult position. They have 20-plus candidates and they wanna give everybody a fair shot, which is the right thing to do. And then if you’re going to have 10 candidates up on the stage, what do you do?”

Despite his sympathy, the 2020 Democratic hopeful said change is needed to keep the American people adequately informed.

“There are other ways that you’ve gotta do it because the issues facing this country are so enormous, and in some cases so complicated, nobody in the world can honestly explain them in 45 seconds. What that encourages people to do is come up with soundbites or do absurd things.

“If I yell and scream on this show, if I took my clothes off, it would get a lot of publicity, right? But if you give a thoughtful answer to a complicated question, it’s not so sexy for the media.”

Sanders is polling closely behind former Vice President Joe Biden among the 24 candidates gunning for the party’s nomination.

He has qualified for the next round of debates in September.