Free Republic

For Republican presidential contenders challenged by the media, the go-to answer has become a claim of victimhood: You are biased against us. As Marco Rubio put it at the CNBC debate last month, "The Democrats have the ultimate super PAC. It’s called the mainstream media." Are media outlets really biased against Republican candidates? One of the most careful studies, by Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro of the University of Chicago, doesn’t find much evidence of that. Its central conclusion is that readers...

[AUDIO] Donald Trump Full Interview On CNBC - Squawk Box 11-16-2015

We all agree the CNBC debate was a disaster. Heck, even CNBC agrees that it was a disaster. Well, here's a take which you may enjoy a little more... if not enjoy, at least you won't be filled with a strong desire to harm yourself. Though of course, I make no guarantees. WARNING: VERY POLITICALLY INCORRECT. MAY NOT BE SFW LINK ABOVE OR AT: https://youtu.be/Y7tJfyx8Pw8 Some of the more pertinent topics covered: - Trump gets asked about which comic book character he would be. - Carson is asked about chickens at Costco. - Fiorina is grilled about her post-breast cancer,...

When I arrived in New York City 28 years ago to begin my national radio program, my objective was to have the most-listened-to show in the country. At that time, the national broadcast media included three television networks and CNN. That was it. There were 125 radio stations doing talk radio, and I started on 56 of them. No one had ever succeeded in syndicating a national daytime radio show, and I was predicted to fail, too. But I didn’t. What was different about my show was that I was the only conservative voice in national broadcast media. I was...

Apparently, integrity and critical thinking are not qualities found in today's mainstream media. We know this after watching the CNBC-hosted Republican debate billed as one which would focus on "the key issues that matter to all voters-job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and the health of our national economy." Obviously, that did not happen. Instead, Americans watched moderators with the seeming intellectual prowess of June bugs disrespectfully hurl boneheaded attacks and stupid questions at GOP presidential hopefuls, offering millions of viewers a front row seat to observe proof positive they are nothing more than extensions of, and left-wing propagandists for, the...

President Obama mocked Republican candidates who suggested they'll be tough with Vladimir Putin but “can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at a debate” during a speech on Monday. Obama stated, "Have you noticed that every one of these candidates say, 'You know, Obama's weak, he's — people — Putin's kicking sand in his face, when I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out. Just looking at him, I'm going to - he's going to be'? And then it turns out, they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at a debate."

'If you can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators, I don't think the Russians are going to be too worried!' Obama takes to a Broadway stage to trash GOP presidential candidates President Barack Obama launched a no-holds barred attack on the Republican field of presidential candidates on Monday night - and reduced a Broadway theater packed with Democratic donors to fits of laughter with his barbs. The President has so far refrained from commenting on the field of 15 candidates, but he appeared unable to resist giving his opinion after the much-criticized CNBC debate last week that saw the GOP...

In an earlier article this week, Mortal Allies Make Strange Bedfellows, we saw why the Republican candidates planned to wrest control of future debates from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and mainstream media. This post will examine what happened in just the first question of the third Republican Presidential candidates' debate hosted by CNBC. Donald Trump and Ben Carson had negotiated an agreement with CNBC for the third debate to last only two hours, including commercials rather than exclusive of them. CNBC also had agreed to allow opening and closing statements from each candidate. Trump suspected that CNBC would not...

Clowns Here was my favorite headline of the week: ‘Shell-shocked’ CNBC staffers had long flight home Good. I hope they’re having a long and horrible week too. When you’re trusted with directing something as serious as a presidential debate, and instead you beclown yourself as these fools did, you don’t deserve any rest. But this goes to a more fundamental problem about presidential debates in general, especially but not exclusively primary debates. When and why did we buy into the notion that debates must be led and directed by journalists prompting the participants with questions? Indeed, why do journalists get...

During an appearance on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, disgraced CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather did his best to excuse the criticism of CNBC’s Republican presidential debate and instead chose to blame Republicans for fueling such hatred towards the press. While Rather briefly admitted that CNBC"didn’t do it perfectly" the liberal journalist quickly blamed the GOP presidential candidates whose "constituency loves attacks on the press. So the moderators open themselves to some criticism." -Rather continued to dismiss the substance of the criticism against CNBC's biased debate and argued that it was just a made up issue by conservatives:

Why is Donald Trump hosting “Saturday Night Live” next weekend after NBC canceled the Miss Universe pageant? “It’s called ratings,” Trump told The Post. “I go on Jimmy Fallon, he got his best ratings. One of the best nights he’s had in years. Then I did Colbert’s show. That got fantastic ratings. He beat Fallon by a lot. Since then, NBC and I get along great.” “The Tonight Show” drew 4.46 million viewers when Trump appeared on Sept. 11, its biggest Friday audience in 18 months. Trump’s Sept. 22 sit-down on “The Late Show” on CBS averaged 4.56 million viewers,...

One name that is being floated at this point is prominent conservative Glenn Beck. The official spoke to TheBlaze about Beck, saying: 'Right now, I know that his name is being mentioned.' He also said that officials from at least three campaigns, Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, and Governor Jim Gilmore, would probably support Beck in becoming a debate moderator. The official added that Beck is being considered because he is a 'fair reviewer' and is liked 'in and out of the Tea Party.' Representatives from the presidential campaigns are also set to discuss possible debate changes on Sunday, without...

The 2016 GOP presidential campaigns agreed on Sunday evening to cut the Republican National Committee (RNC) out of the debate negotiation process and instead deal directly with networks moderating debates, Breitbart News has learned. Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for frontrunner Donald Trump, confirmed to Breitbart News via phone on Sunday that the “biggest consensus” of five separate points the GOP campaigns agreed on was cutting the RNC out of the negotiations with the networks, as the campaigns would each like to negotiate with the networks directly. In response to the revelation that the RNC will be cut out of...

This was a great week for those of us who consider the corporate media to be underinformed, partisan, and overly impressed with their own power to shape political affairs. This week CNBCs wretched conduct of the Republican debate hurt the pocketbook of their parent company, Comcast, and gave the entire media a long-deserved black eye while upping the audiences regard for intended victims. If Watergate was the high water mark of the public esteem of journalists, the debate was its Waterloo. Like me, you have to admit that you never expected to hear Carl Bernstein admit the right was correct...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had a standout moment early in Wednesday night's Republican debate when he went after, not other Republicans, but the CNBC moderators, none of whom appeared to have "any intention of voting in a Republican primary." CNBC's Jim Cramer and Rick Santelli later asked questions a conservative would ask, but the event began with questions from moderators John Harwood, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla that reinforced Republicans' belief that the network is in the Democrats' pocket. The biggest loser of the night: CNBC's credibility. Harwood launched the debate with a gotcha question for billionaire Donald Trump. Personally,...

In summary, I thought the so-called debate was no more than a “Cage-Match” promoted by CNBC, owned by NBC, a division of Comcast and one of the nation’s leading liberal networks You know, as the sun set on Wednesday night, October 28th, I realized that my night was, potentially speaking, full of great things to watch on T.V., all of which had the makings of a very entertaining evening. A lot there to choose from, I should say. There was that first game of baseball’s World Series, between the N.Y. Mets and the Kansas City Royals; there was my long-awaited...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says the moderators at CNBC’s GOP presidential debate were “left-wing operatives” trying to weaken Republican presidential candidates. He added future debates should be hosted by moderators who have voted in the Republican primary at least once in their lives. “What you wouldn’t have is a bunch of left-wing operatives whose object is that whoever the Republican nominee is, they want him as battered and bruised as possible so the Democrat wins in November,” Cruz said at the Iowa GOP’s Growth and Opportunity Party in Des Moines on Saturday. “Instead you’d have moderators that were trying to...

Prior to February 19, 2009, CNBC was an obscure niche network watched mainly inside Merrill Lynch offices ... At the same point, in February 2009, the term tea party was only a vague memory out of middle school history - with no particular relevance to politics today - with the exception of a few mentions by Ron Paul that never resonated widely. Meanwhile, crony capitalism (or crony socialism or cronyism if you prefer) was a problem, but it ... was kind of practiced in the dark and certainly not celebrated openly. That all started to change shortly after 9 am...

How bad was the backlash against CNBC after Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate? Bad enough that producers at its sister networks were reportedly told to tone down their coverage of the controversy. As CNN’s Brian Stetler reports, CNBC itself originally covered the debate normally, but later abandoned coverage entirely. “As the day went on, there was less and less talk about the debate on CNBC. According to one of the employees, producers were given internal guidance to move on.” Apparently, similar instructions were given to CNBC’s sister networks. “At CNBC’s sister news outlets MSNBC and NBC News, producers were advised not...