Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are complaining that two ofd the dates set for the general election debates between the two candidates because the event takes place opposite NFL football games on TV.

CNN Money:

In a tweet on Friday night, Trump incorrectly said that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are "trying to rig the debates."

In fact, the fall debate schedule was determined almost a year ago by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, a private group made up of both Republicans and Democrats.

His primary complaint is that two of the debates are scheduled on the same nights as NFL games.

That's true. (It was also true in 2012, and the debates were still high-rated.)

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he's "fine" with the commission's three debates, but objected to the specific dates.

"I'll tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games," he said. "I got a letter from the NFL saying, 'This is ridiculous.'"

An NFL spokesman said Saturday: "While we'd obviously wish the debate commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Trump."

Is this man capable of telling the truth about anything?

On Sunday morning, a Trump aide said that "Mr. Trump was made aware of the conflicting dates by a source close to the league."

"It's unfortunate that millions of voters will be disenfranchised by these chosen dates," the aide added.

The debate organizers have a different view: They note that the debates are easy to find all across TV, and people who choose to watch the football games live can still watch the debates later through video on demand.

Because Trump skipped one of the GOP primary debates in January, there has been speculation among media types that he may quibble with the fall debate schedule or even threaten to not show up.

Campaigns routinely haggle over the details of the debates, right down to the temperature of the studio, but every major party candidate in modern times has ultimately agreed to participate.

It would be risky for Trump to turn down the debates. Voters consistently tell pollsters that the sessions help them decide which candidate to support.

Trump may, indeed, be looking for an excuse to cut and run from the debates. He is incapable of discussing issues in depth, preferring to call his opponents names while trying to change the subject.  That may have worked when there were 5 or 6 candidates sharing the stage but is harder to get away with if there are only 1 or 2 others.

If Trump is going to win the election, he is going to have to hide his appalling gnorance of the issues from the voters. The debates are likely to expose his shortcomings in this regard, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he refused to participate.