Posted on 09/08/2016 10:37:13 AM PDT by tcrlaf
NBC News knows the "Commander-in-Chief Forum" was not Matt Lauer's finest hour.
One executive, speaking anonymously, was blunt about it: "Disaster."
The morning after Lauer's back-to-back interviews of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, several high ranking sources at the network said they hear the criticism and agree with at least some of it.
Lauer was widely criticized for failing to fact-check or follow up when Trump falsely claimed that he was opposed to the Iraq war when it started. Some viewers thought Lauer held Clinton to a higher standard than Trump. Several people who were sitting in the audience told CNN that they were frustrated too.
The ratings for Wednesday night's forum were strong, according to preliminary data. But the reviews were pitiful. So what went wrong? That's what journalists both inside and outside NBC are asking now. There is no clear answer.
Lack of preparation is one theory.
New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik wrote Thursday that Lauer seemed "unprepared on specifics of military and foreign policy: "He performed like a soldier sent on a mission without ammunition, beginning with a disorganized offensive, ending in a humiliating retreat."
But Lauer's interviewing skills are second to none. He has hosted thousands of episodes of the "Today" show.
And he had a week to prep for the forum.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Early voting starts TOMORROW in North Carolina, and Lauer was supposed to wreck Trump, and make him look like a fool.
This could literally COST HIM HIS JOB....
This could literally COST HIM HIS JOB....
Is there a problem with that?
HoleeKrap... that is the EXACT OPPOSITE of everything I saw...
They are complaining he didn't kiss her ass ENOUGH??? Or interrup and badger Trump even more?
He did not once interrupt hilLIARy like he did Trumps every sentence.
The Stern interview BEFORE the war shows Trump was opposed to the war. Trump did not falsely claim that.
They say it’s a lie that Trump was against the Iraq War, because he said “Yeah, I guess so” when he appeared on the one year 9/11 anniversary on the Howard Stern Show. Big deal.
This could literally COST HIM HIS JOB....Oh, horsepoop.
From who?? The so called journalists who all support Hillary? Yes, Hillary looked and sounded terrible - she was the disaster.
LOL.
It’s literally a bunch of leftists pissed off that he didnt be an attack dog for the Democrats!
In a just world his crimes would cost him HIS LIFE.
Matt Lauer PERFORMANCE??? Lauer was not in the debate. So you can see that these “execs” could care less about what the CANDIDATES had to say....it was ONLY about damaging Trump. Trump showed them and did a great job. Hitlery was a disaster as usual.
He asked Trump twice as many questions and constantly interrupted his answers.
HRC was allowed to keep talking which proved disastrous.
She’s definitely wearing the wrong trousers, Grommit.
Frankly, given the history of past elections, I had low expectations of Lauer and based on that benchmark, I thought he did ok.....
I forget, was he President or Senator at the time?
Matt Lauer is a disaster.
I attribute the reaction as you say; Lauer was sent on a mission to destroy Trump and he failed. He failed because Trump is a lot better at this stuff than people realize. Lauer tried his best breaking pitches but Trump smoked them into the seats. He also failed because he played soft toss batting practice with Hillary, and she looked pathetic hitting a few weak ground balls.
Look for the media to double down during the debates. If you think Candy Cowley was one sided, you ain’t seen nuthin yet.
If you are in the MSM, and you don’t deliver totally for Hillary, you are dead meat. They are owned by Soros and Clinton you know. Ask Drew Pinskey.
Stalin’s Pravda was 10 times the independent news source that the American mainstream media is today.
“HRC was allowed to keep talking which proved disastrous.”
If things are as nasty behind the scenes as seems the case, he might just have done that deliberately: be nice, and feed her plenty of rope to hang herself.
(I doubt it, but it’s a plausible scenario. With enough people having been thrown under the bus, other likely victims may be reconsidering their cooperation and considering “malicious obedience”.)
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