Carvey, on NBC’s Today, was impersonating Russian leader Vladimir Putin and commended Lauer for his work on the previous evening’s national security forum. (The hashtag #LaueringTheBar started trending on Twitter this afternoon.) Critics took issue with what seemed softball questions for Donald Trump, and Lauer’s seeming unwillingness to fact-check several false statements made by the Republican candidate.
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Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Clinton suggested she agreed with Democrats who say she is being held to a different standard in the White House race.
At one point, she was asked about her plans for dealing with ISIS and Lauer asked her to answer the question “as briefly as you can”. Her husband Bill Clinton was President from 1992 to 2000; she voted in favour of Republican President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq in 2003, and from 2008 to 2012, she was Secretary of State. Mr. Trump named a few generals and admirals when asked about where he got his security ideas.
When Trump claimed, “We’re going to have to set up a court system within the military”, Lauer let the comment slide – instead of asking Trump if he knew the military already has its own court system.
Clinton on Thursday said Trump’s comment was “not just unpatriotic and insulting to the people of our country, as well as to our commander in chief, it is scary”. You can look at before that.
While Lauer was lambasted for failing to challenge Trump on his support of the Iraq war, the GOP candidate’s campaign is standing behind Wednesday night’s events.
“Simply put, I’ve never been more anxious about our men and women in uniform being poorly led over the next four years”, he said. “You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly”.
While Trump thanked media outlets for their positive reviews at the forum, Clinton continued to defend herself.
Besides taking the time to rail against Gary Johnson for his Aleppo flub, both CBS and NBC took the time to highlight Hillary Clinton railing against Donald Trump the day after the Commander-in-Chief forum. Trump has often expressed admiration for Putin’s leadership, describing him as strong and resolute in contrast to Obama, whom he has painted as a weak and ineffective leader.
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To be certain, Trump’s overt praise of the Russian strongman is hardly a new tone for modern conservatives, who have for years lauded Putin in an effort to attack President Obama.
