Posted on 08/31/2015 4:39:09 PM PDT by Red Steel
Fox News came to Donald Trump’s defense, in a sense, on Monday after Rand Paul accused the network of giving the GOP frontrunner “twice as much airtime” as every other candidate at the first GOP debate earlier this month.
“And then everybody wonders why he’s doing well in the polls,” Paul said in an interview with Boston Herald Radio today. “Maybe we shouldn’t predetermine to give somebody who really isn’t even a good Republican, or a good conservative — maybe we shouldn’t be predetermining to give them twice as much time as everybody else.”
But in a statement to The Huffington Post, Fox News Executive Vice President Michael Clemente denied the veracity of Paul’s claim.
“There is zero truth to Senator Rand Paul’s accusation,” Clemente said. “While Trump was given the first question by virtue of his standing in the national polls, time was allotted as equally as possible, given the back and forth and interruptions that occurred.”
Following the debate, NPR Politics crunched the numbers on each candidate’s speaking time and it is true that Trump spoke for more than twice as long as Paul. But the rest of the field fell on a spectrum in between the two.
Here is the full breakdown:
1. Trump 10:30 2. Bush 8:33 3. Huckabee 6:32 4. Carson/Cruz 6:28 (tie) 6. Kasich 6:25 7. Rubio 6:22 8. Christie 6:03 9. Walker 5:43 10. Paul 4:51
Ironically, while Trump may have gotten the most debate airtime, he too spent the following days and weeks accusing Fox of treating him unfairly, mostly when it came to Megyn Kelly’s tough questions.
Fox news didn’t, as this story says, come to Trump’s defense.
They came to their own defense, saying that there was “zero truth” to the assertions that they gave Trump twice as much time.
That was a lie from Fox News.
They did, in fact, give Trump much more time than any other candidate, especially Rand Paul.
Now, they didn’t intend that the extra time would actually help Trump. Fox’s pre-planned goal was to play the good, little, establishment shills they are, and try to sink Trump.
It didn’t work, but they sure as hell tried.
I’m not a Trump guy.
I’m not a Paul guy.
However, Rand Paul is correct that Fox News skewed the debate.
As for Trump, it appears that whatever doesn’t kill him makes him stronger.
Trump got “Special Treatment”, for sure.
Sonderbehandlung
I'm inclined to believe it's both nature and nurture. Having Ron Paul's DNA, and a congruity with papa's ever stranger philosophy.
They both started out normal. Something in DC's water?
How about it! Rand, Jeb and Canada fence Walker are pretty much basket cases now.
Perhaps Paul would like some cheese and crackers to along with all his WHINE!
Rand has a screw lose. He says such bizarre things.
This guy is such a whiner.
Thanks for the belly laugh. I needed that.
“Seeing that squirrel fly off.......” Bwaaaa-haaa-haa-ha!
Rand Paul ACTUALLY said Trump got special treatment, out loud?
Ok!
He also was the first one to interrupt another candidate (Trump, IIRC) right off the bat in the debate.
And he interrupted others more than once.
Well we all know Jeb Bush (Fox News candidate) got softball questions all night.
Crybaby!
Paul is a little rat. So is his father. Little rat and littler rat.
It was Christie.
Fox did, and still does give Trump special treatment; (the type of Special Treatment common in the concentration camps of the nazis in 1944).
After all, he is at the head of their HIT LIST.
BINGO; I just couldn’t remember the correct word or spelling.
FNC is off at my house thanks to Megyn Kelly.
LOL. Now we see the truth that Trump & Fox are on the same side. They protected him by only giving him questions about his “outrageous” statements and no real questions. Trump was the only one they didn’t give hard questions.
Rand Paul is going through man-apause.
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