Debates

Scarborough Calls Harwood 'Embarrassing,' Predicts 'I'll Get in Trouble' for Criticism
By Mark Finkelstein | October 29, 2015 | 8:29 AM EDT

Tuning into Morning Joe today, the question on this NewsBusters' mind was whether—given that MNSBC and CNBC are corporate cousins—Joe Scarborough would have the guts to go after John Harwood. He did. 

In at least three segments this morning, Scarborough criticized Harwood for what he called his "embarrassing" performance as moderator of the GOP debate last night. Scarborough's repeated criticism on Harwood's blatant anti-GOP bias led Joe at one point to ruefully observe "I'm sure I'll get in trouble for saying this."

After Debate, Harwood Doubles Down on Lie to Rubio While Epperson Trashes Fiorina
By Curtis Houck | October 29, 2015 | 3:14 AM EDT

Just a few hours after their atrocious performance in the third Republican presidential debate, two of the co-moderators from CNBC joined MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to double down on their liberal stances with John Harwood refusing to admit he lied regarding Senator Marco Rubio’s tax plan while Sharon Epperson trashed Carly Fiorina and how Republican candidates supposedly “don't really care about the facts.” Harwood snidely dismissed criticism: "That’s life in the big city."

AP Reporter: It's 'Media's Job' to Act As CNBC Panel Did in GOP Debate
By Tom Blumer | October 29, 2015 | 2:37 AM EDT

Wednesday night, an Associated Press reporter told us that it's the press's job to ask "tough, impertinent" questions like the ones moderators at Wednesday night's CNBC-hosted Republican debate were asking.

Ken Dilanian, who is apparently the AP's Intelligence Writer — seriously — really needs to consult a dictionary before he makes such a complete fool of himself. Here is what Dilanian tweeted at 10:32 p.m.:

Two Weeks After Correcting Himself, CNBC's Harwood Lies About Rubio's Tax Plan — Again
By Tom Blumer | October 29, 2015 | 1:41 AM EDT

The competition for the worst moderator moment of Wednesday night's GOP debate is fierce. John Harwood's rephrasing of an old and discredited charge that Marco Rubio's tax plan disproportionately benefits the top 1 percent has to be in the running.

That's especially true because Harwood himself had to back away from a simialr contention two weeks ago, yet still brought up the same issue with a similar dishonest assumption Wednesday night. After Rubio refuted Harwood and pointed out that the CNBC hack previously had to correct himself about the substance of the Rubio-Lee plan, a finger-wagging Harwood still insisted he was correct (bolds are mine throughout this post):

Krauthammer Unloads on ‘Obnoxious,’ ‘Disorganized’ CNBC Moderators; ‘Appalling Performance’
By Curtis Houck | October 29, 2015 | 1:06 AM EDT

Syndicated columnist and FNC contributor Charles Krauthammer was Bill O’Reilly’s first guest on the 11:00 p.m. Eastern edition of The O’Reilly Factor after Wednesday’s CNBC debate and tore into the moderators for a “most appalling performance” in which they were “obnoxious,” “interrupting,” and “disorganized.”

Matthews: 'Revolting' How GOP Candidates Turned Fire on Liberal Media at CNBC Debate
By Ken Shepherd | October 28, 2015 | 11:41 PM EDT

"This got a little revolting tonight," MSNBC's Chris Matthews lamented to colleague Chris Jansing in a post-debate special edition of Hardball Wednesday night. Matthews was chagrined with Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) scoring points with the debate audience by attacking the liberal media.

'Hardball' Panelists Agree, Marco Rubio Won the Night at CNBC Debate
By Ken Shepherd | October 28, 2015 | 11:04 PM EDT

With his "viral video" line about the liberal media being the Democrats' super PAC to his deft handling of Jeb Bush's attacks, Sen. Marco Rubio won the night, MSNBC analysts agreed in a special Hardball.

Christie Trashes CNBC’s Quintanilla for Fantasy Football Question; ‘Seriously’ ‘Who Cares?’
By Curtis Houck | October 28, 2015 | 10:49 PM EDT

Governor Chris Christie (N.J.) assailed CNBC debate co-moderator Carl Quintanilla for dedicating a line of questioning to whether daily fantasy football websites should face regulation by the federal government: "Are we really talking about getting government involved in fantasy football? Wait a second, we have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and Al Qaeda attacking us and we're talking about fantasy football? Can we stop? Can we stop? Seriously?"

Bozell: CNBC Debate Was an 'Encyclopedic Example of Liberal Media Bias'
By NB Staff | October 28, 2015 | 10:12 PM EDT

MRC president Brent Bozell issued a statement Wednesday night criticizing the overall tilt and tone of the CNBC Republican debate in Boulder:  "The CNBC debate will go down in history as an encyclopedic example of liberal media bias on stage. The audience roared its disdain for these so-called 'journalists,' and all of America heard it."

NYT: Smart Liberals Love Complexity, Simplistic 'Conservatives Prefer Certainty and Clarity'
By Clay Waters | October 28, 2015 | 10:01 PM EDT

Wednesday's New York Times featured "Ted Cruz as Beowulf: Matching Candidates With Books They Sound Like," in which the Times measured the candidates’ debate rhetoric by complexity and eagerly forwarded some unchallenged stereotypes of "simplistic" conservatives: "'Trump has the language of the board room, the language of entertainment,' [professor Sharon] Jarvis said. 'He really speaks to the conservative base who would prefer not to hear complex arguments.'"

Rubio Strikes Again; Slams Media as the ‘Ultimate Super PAC’ for Democrats, Hillary Clinton
By Curtis Houck | October 28, 2015 | 9:56 PM EDT

During Wednesday's Republican presidential debate on CNBC, Senator Marco Rubio (Fl.) shellacked the news media as “the ultimate super PAC” for Democrats and Hillary Clinton. "Last week, Hillary Clinton...admitted she had sent e-mails to her family saying hey, this attack in Benghazi was caused by al-Qaeda-like elements. She spent over a week telling the families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video and yet, the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton's campaign."

Rubio Lambasts FL Newspaper, Debate Moderators as ‘Evidence’ of ‘Bias that Exists in the American Media'
By Curtis Houck | October 28, 2015 | 9:19 PM EDT

During Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate on CNBC, Senator Marco Rubio (Fl.) excoriated the Florida newspaper The Sun-Sentinel and debate co-moderator Carl Quintanilla for raising questions about his young age and calls for him to resign from the Senate due to missed votes as examples of “a double standard” and “bias that exists in the American media today.”