Saturday, October 17, 2020

Help Wanted: A moderator who wants to moderate


For a couple of days, NBC promoted a townhall session with President Trump.   So I sat down to watch voters ask questions... voters who were constantly interrupted by Savannah Guthrie!  In other words, the moderator insulted the voters by constantly asking the President question after question.

It was annoying and likely part of a strategy, as Stephen Kruiser wrote:   

There was some controversy when NBC decided to schedule its event with President Trump opposite ABC’s Night of Love With George Stephanopoulos and Joe Biden. The network caught flack on social media from outraged Dems who didn’t want attention to be drawn away from ABC’s in-kind contribution to the Harris-Biden campaign.

In response to the criticism, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie decided that she would be a shrill attack dog while questioning President Trump. While Grandpa Gropes was being verbally caressed by Stephanopoulos on ABC, the president was subjected to a barrage of ridiculousness from a partisan, agenda-driven shrieking harridan in the form of Guthrie.

Using a rapid-fire, aggressive cadence that sounded more like a woman who was mad at her boyfriend for partying with his friends than a journalist, Guthrie behaved like one would expect someone from NBC News to behave toward a Republican.

Well, I can't get inside Savannah Guthrie's head but she did look like a woman on a mission rather than a moderator introducing Miami voters who wanted to chat with President Trump.  

How did this play outside the hall?  I have no polling data but my sense is that lots of people reacted somewhere between "Shut up Savannah" to "let the voters talk".

Last but not least, the questions from voters were a lot better than the garbage about "white supremacy" and Trump's tax returns!

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.




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