Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released a letter Oct. 30 notifying Andrew Lack, NBC’s News Chairman, that the RNC is cutting ties with the network, citing “unfair” questioning during CNBC’s “Your Money, Your Vote: The Republican Presidential Debate” Oct. 28 as the reason.
The assertion that CNBC moderators’ questions were unfair is ridiculous. Both CNBC moderators and Fox News moderators asked similar questions, according to the transcripts of both debates.
The RNC chairman’s decision affects the Feb. 26, 2016 University of Houston debate scheduled to air on NBC, the parent network of CNBC.
Hissy Fits And Temper Tantrums
During the debate, a number of candidates – Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, former Governor Jeb Bush, and Dr. Ben Carson, among others – threw tantrums, saying the questions were biased, according to the Wrap.
Priebus attempted to do damage control and criticize CNBC afterwards, but his actions came off looking like a hissy fit.
CNBC’s John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla, and Becky Quick moderated Wednesday’s debate. Priebus said that moderators’ “questions were inaccurate or downright offensive.”
He continued, writing:
“While debates are meant to include tough questions and contrast candidates’ visions and policies … CNBC’s moderators engaged in a series of “gotcha” questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates.”
The Question About The CNBC Debate Questions
If Priebus wasn’t so busy throwing a tantrum, he might have noticed the ridiculous hypocrisy of his allegations – the CNBC and Fox News debate questions were similar in both substance and tone.
One example of the similar questioning, both Fox and CNBC moderators asked Donald Trump about his bankruptcies. Trump answered CNBC moderator Quick civilly, but when Fox’s Chris Wallace asked him the question, and then followed up, Trump was combative with him.
Another example is a question about finances. Fox’s Baier asked Governor Chris Christie about the way he handles New Jersey’s finances, and why the American people should trust him with the nation’s economy. CNCB’s Quick asked of Senator Marco Rubio a similar question about the way he’s handled his personal finances, and why Americans should trust him with the nation’s economy.
Although the two questions got two different answers, neither candidate was combative. More evidence the RNC’s assertion that CNBC moderators’ questioning was anything but fair is more than ridiculous.
According to Media Matters, CNN’s Michael Smerconish confirmed that CNBC’s line of questioning was absolutely appropriate, “even if the ‘tonality’ of some of the question as problematic.[sic]” He added that there were no real differences between the Fox, CNN, and CNBC questions, except for the candidates’ answers.
In true GOP hypocritical fashion, though, the candidates blame the “liberal media,” despite knowing Priebus planned the GOP debate fiasco with the networks.
Enough is Enough
Priebus acknowledged that NBC has no journalistic control over CNBC’s moderators, but said the RNC would punish the network anyway.
As a result, some of the GOP campaigns are cutting the RNC out of future debate negotiations, according to Politico.
“At least half a dozen” campaign managers say the RNC hasn’t considered the candidates’ concerns when negotiating with the networks and, according to the report, are trying to figure out how to wrestle away the RNC’s control over debate decisions.
The right wing of the GOP repeatedly shows just how truly extreme and out of touch they are.
This latest fiasco just proves the race to be ridiculous is not to be outdone by their haste to be hypocritical. The 2016 presidential election cycle is shaping up to be a great show – can’t wait to see what happens next.
