Posted on 08/11/2015 10:34:48 AM PDT by Conscience of a Conservative
But many conservative commentators, led by Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, have criticized Fox over the debate. What’s telling is that some portion of the Fox audience, at least according to Twitter and Facebook, is also unhappy.
Now some of these are fierce Trump partisans who are ticked when anyone challenges him on anything. Others were disappointed with the overall tone of the Cleveland event.
“The only reason Fox had high ratings was because of TRUMP and he’s the very one they tried to tear down. Thanks for Trump for your ratings, it sure wasn’t the so-called journalists,” one person said.
Another wrote that “those questions were inappropriate and vicious by Fox.”
These were offset by many others who praised the moderators’ performance, but let’s look at what some found “vicious.”
Trump was asked whether he would pledge to support the GOP nominee (after raising the potential for an independent bid in numerous interviews); about his own derogatory words about women; why he once supported single-payer health care; his evidence that Mexico is sending rapists into the United States; the Iran nuclear deal, and why he once supported abortion rights.
Jeb Bush was asked what he would say to families of those who died in “your brother’s war.” Scott Walker was asked about flip-flopping on immigration. Ben Carson was asked about his political inexperience. Marco Rubio was asked if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and incest. And on and on.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“For what it’s worth, here are the questions Trump was asked”
I agree that the questions were not out of bounds. How the candidates handle any questions are instructive to we voters. I also think it’s fair game for the candidates to criticize the moderators’ questions and to comment about the moderators.
It’s the RNC and the GOPe that is to blame.
Seriously, what’s the point of these debates, who gains by them, especially considering that the moderators are always Democrats, who are only interested in making the GOP as a whole look bad.
I don’t believe in the concept of Intra-Party debates, they are counter-productive, all we have to do is look at all of the fallout from this farce.
I am a huge Ted Cruz fan and plan on voting for him as often as I can. However, the main reason I watched the debates was because of Trump. The questions by the hosts propagated political correctness and was tilted against one candidate, Donald Trump. It was embarrassing to listen to those questions.
I have decided that there are no good reporters out there anymore....
It seems since Gary Hart, who was from Colorado running for POTUS told the press, “Come and follow me if you think I’m cheating on my wife” they did and he was...
Since then ‘fair and true’ reporting has been more of a ‘got ya’ type news and I am tired of it...
Just tell me what you have found out, and back it up with fact and I’ll make my own mind up whether I want to believe it or not....
Exactly
Good point. What kind of political debate pits the debaters against the moderators? ...with the moderators speaking more than every candidate?!? What kind of debate has moderators rolling their eyes and mocking God, and the candidate’s faith?!? Faux New’s little Pyrrhic victory on ratings is going to cost them.
“Trump was asked whether he would pledge to support the GOP nominee (after raising the potential for an independent bid in numerous interviews); “
That old saw again? Trump mentioned doing that only when the GOPe was conspiring to keep the solid frontrunner in the 5 main polls out of the debate. He never once suggested that losing an honest election would lead him to do that. He was in the debate, so the question was designed as a smear.
The honest question may have been, “what do you think of the GOPe big donor efforts to keep you, as the frontrunner, out of the debates?”
“I’ll give you 30 seconds to answer my question, which was, what evidence do you have, specific evidence that the Mexican government is sending criminals across the border? Thirty seconds. “
Wow,, gosh. That’s a tough one. Trump has made this CRAZED suggestion that the Mexicans are sending criminals across? Lame. The Mexican government prints pamphlets on how to get here, how to apply for assistance, and opens their southern border to criminals, puts them on trains, and ships them right to our border.
Ridiculous to even dispute Trumps assertion at all.
You’re idea is good. The first debate, under the auspices of FOX News, was a set of targeted, hostile interrogations that would bring the limelight to the questioners.
You’re idea is good. The first debate, under the auspices of FOX News, was a set of targeted, hostile interrogations that would bring the limelight to the questioners.
It was strange at the very beginning . . even before and as the candidates came on stage. And Kelly and Brett seemed giddy almost . . like children waiting for their birthday party to commence. Very unprofessional and disorganized, not to mention degrading to the dignity of the men and their network fans.
I don’t even want FOX to support a candidate or a conservative. Its as stupid for them to be a “conservative” network as it is for MSNBC to be a hard left network.
Is just being honest new reporters really so impossible?
“It was strange at the very beginning . . even before and as the candidates came on stage. And Kelly and Brett seemed giddy”
That was weird.
“At the end of the day, ask the man a question that explains his position and his solutions rather than a ten-minute question that describes him as the biggest bastard on the planet,” Graham quipped.
“Obama wasn’t one of the Republican Presidential candidates on the stage.”
No. But Hillary supports everything Obama does. The purpose of the question would be to condemn Hillary for supporting Obama’s policies in front of 24 million people.
They also should have asked about Keystone and Hillary’s position that she won’t comment on it until she is President. “By a show of hands, who supports Keystone?”
This was the debate to destroy the rat party in front of the largest television audience in a generation. Instead they played “gotcha” games.
Forgetting Trump, Fox News blew it.
“But I just want to remind us that what they say about women — not one woman who is perfectly capable and incredibly impressive, able to take care of herself,” Clinton said, making clear that she thinks Kelly is “incredibly impressive.”
Clinton also said that “but all these women that I have fought for, worked for, stood up for, advocated for and want to be a president for, who may not have the opportunity to defend themselves, who may lose the right to exercise a personal choice if certain of the Republicans were to be successful, I don’t want that forgotten.”
You’re not separating the personal from the political which is a trap that many fall into. It is not true that everything personal is political or vice versa.
The questions asked of Trump were personal or were worded as to be unanswerable. The other candidates were not questioned in this manner.
For example, when Wallace pressed Trump on ‘proof’ that the Mexican government was sending their criminals into the USA, there is a clear legal distinction between ‘proof’ and ‘evidence’. The notion of ‘proof’ rarely exists in legal or international settings because it can only be elicited by confession or undercover spying. And the confessions comprising ‘proof’ must come from the top otherwise it’s hearsay. Wallace knew this but he was on a mission to take out Trump. And this is not a case of splitting hairs over meanings of words for he could have asked Trump for evidence to which Trump responded with Border Control Officers comments. The evidence is not ‘proof’ when Border Control Officers arrest, detain and question illegal aliens who tell them they were released from Mexican prisons and told to go north across the border. But Trump responded with evidence yet Wallace pressed for ‘proof’. If Trump had said the ‘proof’ was in the Border Control Officers comments to him, he would have caught hell for calling hearsay to be ‘proof’ or he could have exposed the officers to legal action for unauthorized disclosures.
So Wallace set Trump up to answer the unanswerable. Trump responded with ‘evidence’ but Wallace pressed him for ‘proof’; shameful.
Contrast the traps like these with asking Walker to explain his political flip flops or asking Paul for his view on the issue of religious liberty and it becomes clear that Fox News was gunning for Trump.
Sure Fox asked the other candidates good questions but the questions asked Trump were ugly gotcha questions that were either personal or unanswerable.
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You are right that your #5 question was out of line (you missed the 1st question of pledge and how the Fox moderators tried to savage Trump who remained polite despite the hardball commentary/questions; the question was designed for Trump but hidden in a smokescreen of asking all to raise their hand). Your #5 question again was a bunch of slanted one-sided views wrapped in a finance question to Trump. It was a loaded question of yellow journalism. A much better question would have been “The United States is insolvent (going bankrupt). You have a successful record of taking insolvent companies through the bankruptcy process. Briefly what steps would you undertake as President to make the United States solvent again?”. But Wallace had to try and paint Trump as a failure because he exercised Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring protection for only four companies out of hundreds of other successful companies.
Here’s a brief point plan for a controlled ‘bankruptcy’ of the United States (the US cannot declare BK as it is sovereign):
1. Delete (discharge) the federal Reserve debt (that doesn’t mean discharge the foreign debt).
2. Propose to Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Act and demand simultaneously that Congress proposed a Balanced Budget Amendment otherwise leverage support to the Article V State movement to amend the Constitution.
3. Eliminate 8 of 15 departments in the executive branch.
4. Mandate a minimum level of spending on national defense and military research. Authorize covert funding of intelligence activities that bypasses Balanced Budget laws (as is done now but make its authorization open keeping its specifics secret).
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Baier’s first question was anchored in comments that Trump made 15 years ago as a businessman which is a long time ago. People can and do change their POV e.g. Ronald Reagan changed his view on his 1986 immigration reform after he was out of office. Hindsight is 20/20 and clearly Donald Trump has corrected himself as he now says he is for market based solutions to healthcare but first the grip that large healthcare companies have on politicians must be broken and the artificial lines to competition must be taken out. The question to Walker on his flip flops is fair because it happened a short while ago. A much fairer question to Trump would have been “15 years ago as a businessman you were not happy with the US healthcare system and you mentioned the success of single payer in Canada and Scotland. What are your views now?”. But Baier went on trying again to paint Trump as a democrat supporter. A better followup question would have been “Mr. Trump you have contributed to many democrats and republicans but many think you favor democrats. Why did you choose to run as a republican and not as a democrat?”. But Baier was too blind to see a truly good question because his marching orders were to malign Trump.
The bottomline is Trump came out ahead and continues to grow stronger in the support of the voter.
Sorry Howard I had to watch you Sunday with Chrissy Wallace and Bret Baier trying to help them walk across the bridge to redemption without apologizing.
You don’t have to be a Trump fan or anti Bush to agree that the demeanor of the moderators and tone of their questions were unprofessional and highly disappointing.... http://www.westernfreepress.com/2015/08/10/how-fox-news-failed-us/
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