MRCTV’s Brittany Hughes asked Ohio Gov. John Kasich about how he felt about CNBC’s questions and the moderators after last night’s GOP debate. The governor then rattled off how he thought they did a good job, and how he had the time to articulate his policies to get America back on track again.
“I thought they did a good job tonight…I’m very appreciative of how they did their job tonight. It wasn’t a circus like we’ve had in the past. It was well done, well controlled, a lot of good questions, and hopefully this will be what we see in the future,” he said.
So, was Ohio Gov. John Kasich even present at the debate? Did he miss his own party chairman saying that CNBC should be “ashamed” over this debate?
While I was proud of our candidates and the way they handled tonight’s debate, the performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters. Our diverse field of talented and exceptionally qualified candidates did their best to share ideas for how to reinvigorate the economy and put Americans back to work despite deeply unfortunate questioning from CNBC," said Chairman Priebus."One of the great things about our party is that we are able to have a dynamic exchange about which solutions will secure a prosperous future, and I will fight to ensure future debates allow for a more robust exchange. CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled.”
As for the questions, they were awful, riddled with Democratic talking points, which rightfully received the condemnation of the 2016 field and the audience. Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, said that last night’s debate was an “encyclopedic example of liberal media bias on stage.”
The CNBC moderators acted less like journalists and more like Clinton campaign operatives. What was supposed to be a serious debate about the many issues plaguing our economy was given up for one Democratic talking point after another served up by the so-called 'moderators.' They clearly war-gamed this thinking that a relentless series of personal attacks on the candidates would somehow drive their ratings and help Hillary Clinton.“The CNBC debate will go down in history as an encyclopedic example of liberal media bias on stage. The audience roared its disdain for these so-called 'journalists,' and all of America heard it. CNBC should be embarrassed for their pitiful display of partisan liberal media bias and apologize to the GOP candidates and the American people."
Guy had this to say about the debate in his analysis last night:
Between the parade of gotcha questions, sloppy moderating, and factual errors, this was an evening to forget for the host network. Almost every single candidate on stage directly called out the slanted nature of the coverage in real time, punctuated by memorable slap-downs from Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Co-host John Harwood, whose inclusion on the panel irked conservatives from the moment it was announced, was especially tendentious and argumentative -- repeatedly interrupting candidates and flat-out blowing a fact-check about Rubio's tax plan. Harwood admitted his mistake on Twitter, but not on the air. The entire enterprise, from the production values, to the overall focus, to the flow of inquiries, was embarrassing.
The notion that CNBC’s debate was an unmitigated disaster, with poor questions and awful moderators wasn’t just on the right, but the left as well. Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove called it a “total debate fail;” Talking Points Memo listed the top six moments from “CNBC’s very bad debate night;” and USA Today’s editor-at-large, Rem Rieder, wrote that the whole spectacle was “amateur hour.”
“You know things are bad when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, of all people, lectures you about being rude, as he did moderator John Harwood — and he's right,” he wrote.
So, I don’t know what debate Kasich thought he was participating in, but it was certainly one where everyone thought CNBC was a total disaster.
Free Beacon clipped all the nonsense last night.