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Donald Trump's main opponent in the first presidential debate wasn't Hillary Clinton. It was NBC anchor Lester Holt. Hillary, with forced smiles as brittle as china and an eerie fake laugh, continued her primary debate strategy of repeating canned talking points while waiting for the moderator to knock off her opponent. Hillary wasn't there to debate, but to once again seem like the only possible option. Holt's job was to make her seem like the only possible option by targeting Trump. There were fears that Lester Holt would be another Candy Crowley. That was unfair to Crowley. The entire debate...

NBC News’ Lester Holt had his “Candy Crowley” moment at the first debate of the 2016 presidential election on Monday night, bowing to pressure from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the liberal media by “fact-checking” Republican nominee Donald Trump on the question of his support for the Iraq War. Holt lived up to the expectations of his peers. But he lived down to the worst expectations of conservatives, who routinely see Republican candidates treated unfairly by debate moderators. Again and again, Holt asked Trump tough questions that were straight from the Clinton campaign’s talking points, and which were obvious set-ups...

NBC News’ Lester Holt had his “Candy Crowley” moment at the first debate of the 2016 presidential election on Monday night, bowing to pressure from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the liberal media by “fact-checking” Republican nominee Donald Trump on the question of his support for the Iraq War.

How would you grade Lester Holt? ...

I note there was a Trigger Warning posted at the Hofstra University debate last night:They should have added “biased opinion journalism ” to the list, in which case the “Open Your Eyes” sign on the table next to it would have made sense.My take on the the debate-by-moderator-fact-checking format: it was a draw. Trump didn’t go all nuts-o and start screaming at Hilz,  Hilz didn’t short circuit and fall over and Lester Holt didn’t moderate. Or ask Hillary any tough questions about her emails, Benghazi, or the Clinton Foundation scam.Lester did manage to squeeze in a few tough questions:  about...

Debate moderator Lester Holt repeatedly challenged Donald Trump during Monday night’s highly anticipated debate, but refrained from going after Hillary Clinton in the same aggressive manner. Holt also minimized the Democrat’s e-mail scandal. It was only brought up because Trump did so. Instead, the NBC Nightly News anchor promoted the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy, demanding, “Mr. Trump, this year Secretary Clinton became the first woman nominated for president by a major party. Earlier this month you said she doesn't have, quote, 'a presidential look.' She's standing here right now. What did you mean by that?” He then followed-up, reminding,...

It started with a mystifying missed opportunity on race. It ended with a piercing attack on gender. Hillary Clinton's performance in the first presidential debate on Monday veered from uncertain and tentative to firm and, ultimately, scorching. No amount of practice, it seemed, could fully prepare her - or perhaps anyone - for Donald J. Trump's hurricane of factual distortion, taunting interruptions and blustery generalities. Mrs. Clinton seemed to slowly but steadily learn how to confront and subdue Mr. Trump on the fly, as tens of millions of Americans watched. [Snip] Mrs. Clinton eventually found her footing in the second...

"You've got to hand it to Trump (by Vic Berger IV )"

At tonight’s debate, Donald Trump faced off not just against Hillary Clinton, but against moderator Lester Holt. The game of two-on-one saw Holt ask no questions about: •Hillary’s emails •Benghazi •The Clinton Foundation While ignoring these issues, Holt grilled Trump on stop-and-frisk, the birther issue, his comments about women, his many bankruptcies, why he hasn’t released his tax returns, and a host of other issues the media sees as unfriendly to the Republican candidate.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: What has happened basically is this. The Clinton campaign has sent marching orders to its Drive-By Media buddies to plaster, which they have done, since yesterday, story after story after story about Trump a liar. I mean, that's the basic premise. Donald Trump is a liar and Lester Holt needs to fact check him in the in the middle of the debate. Lester Holt needs to challenge Donald Trump on every lie he utters, and that's practically every time he opens his mouth. They are demanding this, and they're putting all kinds of pressure on Lester 'cause...

CNN’s Brian Stelter says Lester Holt is signaling to his NBC colleagues that he may enter the fray in Monday night’s presidential debate as a participant rather than a moderator — thanks to intense left-wing backlash over Matt Lauer’s performance at the “Commander in Chief Forum” weeks ago.

Republican nominee Donald Trump called first presidential debate moderator, NBC News anchor Lester Holt, “a Democrat” Monday, despite public records that indicate otherwise. New York State voter registration documents show that Holt has been a registered Republican in the state since 2003. Trump’s comments to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, which were offered without any evidence to support the claim, are part of a time-honored tradition of alleging moderator bias and expectations-setting before a presidential debate. “By the way, Lester is a Democrat. It’s a phony system. They are all Democrats. It’s a very unfair system,” Trump said of the debate...

Next week's presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton could determine the outcome of the election. As polls show Trump leading in some swing states and closing the gap in others, it appears the only burden he must overcome is the one Ronald Reagan shared, looking presidential enough that voters trust him with so much power. The way these debates have usually gone in the past is that the Republican candidate is asked about abortion, gay rights and other social issues and the Democratic candidate is asked about subjects that appeal to a wider range of voters. Lester Holt,...

NBC's Lester Holt, the moderator of the first presidential debate, which is next week, on Monday announced the topics to be discussed during the much-anticipated event. The three topics to be discussed during the debate, held at Hofstra University in New York, will be "America's Direction," "Achieving Prosperity," and "Securing America," per a release from the Commission on Presidential Debates.

First presidential debate: Lester Holt, Anchor, NBC Nightly News Monday, September 26, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY Vice presidential debate: Elaine Quijano, Anchor, CBSN and Correspondent, CBS News Tuesday, October 4, Longwood University, Farmville, VA Second presidential debate (town meeting): Martha Raddatz, Chief Global Affairs Correspondent and Co-Anchor of "This Week," ABC Anderson Cooper, Anchor, CNN Sunday, October 9, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO Third presidential debate: Chris Wallace, Anchor, Fox News Sunday Wednesday, October 19, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV The CPD also announced that Steve Scully, Senior Executive Producer, White House and Political...

Watched NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt last night (Thursday, August 18th). Lester's last segment was on how the USA women were winning more medals than the men in Rio 2016. They showed a variety of photos of different women who have won medals - but I noticed that they didn't include Ginny Thrasher and Kim Rhode, air rifle and skeet shooter respectively, in the segment. They've won medals too -- Gold Medal for Thrasher and 4 or 5 career Olympic medals for Rhode, including one in Rio. The NBC Nightly News website shows last night broadcast, but it does...

Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the broadcast networks of NBC, ABC, and CBS presented several reports on the “massive” and “historic” flooding devastating Louisiana, even comparing storm damage to that suffered during Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. However, the one thing missing from the coverage was a single mention of the President of the United States, Barack Obama. On Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt proclaimed: “Now to the flooding disaster still impacting tens of thousands of people in the south. That massive tropical system that devastated Louisiana is now bringing new flash flood watches to Texas. This...

On Friday, NBC’s Today skipped any mention of CIA Director John Brennan detailing Obama administration failures in the fight against ISIS while testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The morning show ignored the major story despite Thursday’s NBC Nightly News devoting a nearly two-minute segment to the topic. On Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt declared: “Now to a stark warning here at home from the director of the CIA over the threat from ISIS. John Brennan told Congress today efforts to defeat ISIS on the battlefield have not put a dent in the group's ability to carry out terror attacks....

At the top of Thursday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley proclaimed that the jailing of Rowan County, Kentucky Democratic Clerk Kim Davis “could be the last front in a losing battle against same-sex marriage” as she had been refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing gay marriage on June 26. While the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC all led with Davis being jailed and how she had cited her Christian faith in declining to issue licenses, they have yet to mention in any of their coverage in past three...

Brian Williams: 'I’m Sorry. I Said Things That Weren’t True' by Lisa de Moraes “I’m sorry. I said things that weren’t true. I let down my NBC colleagues and our viewers, and I’m determined to earn back their trust,” Brian Williams said this morning in a stunning apology that accompanied the network’s announcement he is returning to the air but not the NBC Nightly News anchor chair. “I will greatly miss working with the team on Nightly News, but I know the broadcast will be in excellent hands with Lester Holt as anchor. I will support him 100% as he...