Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:37 pm
Post debate, reporters expressed concern with how pleased the Republican candidates were with the moderators.
The moderators don't have the same interests as voters, so shouldn't we be worried when the candidates are so pleased with the moderators?
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) November 11, 2015
"I told all three of you, i thought you were doing a terrific job," Cruz tells Cavuto. This a debate or a softball game?
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 11, 2015
It sure is nice that the candidates had such a nice time hanging out with the moderators at the debate tonight.
— Jake Grovum (@jgrovum) November 11, 2015
1121PM local: Cavuto still congratulating Fox for not making debate about themselves, discussing CNBC debate!
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 11, 2015
The Chief Strategist & Communications Director for Republican National Committee was happy with the moderators:
A happier @seanspicer on Fox Business set. Tells Cavuto FBN set "the new gold standard of what a debate shd be about."
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) November 11, 2015
RNC chair Reince Priebus poked at CNBC presenting the rigged Fox debate as “how you run a debate”:
And that @CNBC is how you run a debate.
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) November 11, 2015
Trump praised the moderators:
.@realDonaldTrump says #GOPDebate moderators should be proud of job they did "and I'm very proud of job I did" pic.twitter.com/JJMCrTFRvd
— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) November 11, 2015
The bad thing about this scrubbed question debate for Republicans is their candidates aren’t getting tested with reality at all.
But apparently Republicans don’t want to compete and win based on merit or ideas- they want or believe they need a rigged game. This is a dangerous way to soften candidates, but Republicans don’t seem to be able to handle any kind of traditional vetting.
Gaming the ref works when the ref is Fox News. It’s not going to work so well when Republicans step out of the Fox bubble. Republican strategists know this, but it seems the candidates are too weak to handle a real debate. This fact begs the question, how could they handle running the country if they can’t handle a few push back questions.
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
