BERNIE: Hillary is 'really insulting' voters by refusing to debate

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday slammed Hillary Clinton for turning down a final Democratic primary debate.

In a "Today" show interview, Sanders said he was "disappointed" Clinton did not agree to a 10th Democratic debate on the eve of the California's June 7 primary.

"She is really insulting the people of the largest state in our country who have a right to hear a vigorous debate on her views," Sanders told NBC.

"So I am disappointed, though not surprised," he added.

Within hours of Clinton's decision to sit out a final debate, Sanders' attack became an applause-ready line in his stump speech.

At a rally Monday evening, the senator told a crowd that Clinton was failing to address issues facing California voters.

"I think it's a little insulting to the people of California - the largest state," Sanders said, according to The Los Angeles Times.

"She is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she is going to help California address the major crises we face," he added.

The debate would have likely had a negligible effect on Sanders' small odds in the last phase of the primary race.

Clinton maintains a virtually insurmountable lead in pledged delegates, so-called superdelegates, and popular votes, and is leading in the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls of Democratic primary voters in the Golden State.

FiveThirtyEight calculated that along with modest wins in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Clinton only needs to win just more than 40% of the Democratic primary vote in New Jersey - a state in which she leads by wide margins - to clinch the nomination before the polls close in California on June 7.