Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with “Today” show co-anchor Matt Lauer, left, speaks at the NBC Commander-In-Chief Forum held at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier Intrepid, New York, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016.
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The response illustrated the pressure moderators will face during the three upcoming presidential debates, starting with Lauer’s NBC colleague Lester Holt on September 26.
David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent.
Others consider that a dereliction of duty.
Yet there were two words – “listen” and “control” – that were used just once, and each time by only one of the candidates.
Donald Trump on Thursday engaged in an astounding feat of verbal gymnastics, attempting to clarify his stance on the Iraq War a night after being almost universallypanned for lying about where he stood before the invasion at a nationally televised forum on foreign policy.
“Our nation’s values are being questioned in this election”, Clinton said, pointing to allegations that the Trump family’s company refused to rent to black residents.
“What kind of research are you doing now?” “Most moderators, in the stress of the situation, don’t have the capacity”. “We are commanded”, she said. Challenged, she didn’t immediately have the back-up material available, enabling Trump to sail past the moment.
“How can someone like (Lauer) not set the record straight on Trump’s bogus claim of being against the war in Iraq?” tweeted Glenn Kessler, fact-checking at The Washington Post. Overall, 38% say it should be shut down now to do so, another 22% say it should be shut down if Clinton wins the presidency, and 34% say it does too much good to be shut down completely.
Many intense partisans don’t believe – or don’t care – when an independent analyst questions the truth of a candidate’s statements. In March 2015, when news of the server first broke, 52% said it was not indicative of her character.
So much is a judgment call in the moment.
According to Suffolk, 41% of North Carolina voters said they have a favorable opinion of Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, while 49% said they have an unfavorable opinion.
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With so many partisan, critical eyes watching, moderating can be a thankless job – one that hasn’t been fully defined, Lehrer said. Fox’s Chris Wallace, who will moderate the final debate says that is not part of the job.
