Nine 2020 Democrats unite to demand DNC Chair Tom Perez scrap debate rules: report

The Democratic National Committee is facing a revolt for the party's 2020 presidential candidates for its restrictive debate rules.

"Nine Democratic presidential candidates, including the party's front-runners, are urging the Democratic National Committee to toss out the current polling and fundraising rules used to determine who appears in televised debates and reopen the exchanges to better reflect the historic diversity of the current field. The candidates say the rules exclude diverse candidates in the field from participating," CBS News reported Saturday evening.

The letter, by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), was signed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), billionaire Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro.

"Frankly, that unintended result does not live up to the values of our Democratic Party and it does not serve the best interest of Democratic voters, who deserve to hear from and be able to choose among the best our party has to offer," the letter said.

"All nine candidates have appeared in debates so far this year, but Castro and Booker did not qualify to appear at the next debate this Thursday in Los Angeles. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick did not sign the letter because they have so far not qualified to appear in any debates," CBS noted.

Read the full report.