Hillary Clinton's campaign fires a warning shot at Donald Trump over their upcoming one-on-one debates

Sam Rega/Business Insider

Hillary Clinton wants Donald Trump to know that she's ready to debate him one-on-one.

In a statement released Monday, Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta, said that Clinton "looks forward to participating in all three presidential debates."

"It is concerning that the Trump campaign is already engaged in shenanigans around these debates," he said, suggesting that Trump may be trying to avoid the debates or is just "toying with the press" over the upcoming affair.

Three general-election debates have been set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan group that announced dates for the matchups nearly one year ago — long before Trump won his party's nomination.

The Clinton campaign statement comes as the Republican nominee amplifies his assertions that the debate schedule — and the election itself — may be "rigged."

Earlier this month, Trump accused Democrats of trying to "rig" the timing of the debates by scheduling them adjacent to NFL games happening in the fall.

The Clinton campaign said it was "not interested in playing along with a debate about debates or bargaining around the them."

"The only issue is now whether Donald Trump is going to show up," Podesta's statement read.

You can read the full statement below:

Secretary Clinton looks forward to participating in all three presidential debates scheduled by the independent debate commission.

With so much at stake in the fall elections, she believes these debates will provide the American people with an important opportunity to hear from the candidates on issues critical to the country's future. It is concerning that the Trump campaign is already engaged in shenanigans around these debates, or merely toying with the press to create more drama.

Either way, our campaign is not interested in playing along with a debate about debates, or bargaining around them. The only issue now is whether Donald Trump is going to show up to debate at the date, times, places and formats set by the commission last year through a bipartisan process. We will accept the commission's invitation and expect Donald Trump to do the same.

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