“I was prepared to go on stage to craft a statement, saying he decided not to go on stage because of fact-checking… we couldn’t compromise on that.”
As [NABJ president Ken] Lemon was preparing that statement, Trump walked onto the stage.
“I was prepared to go on stage to craft a statement, saying he decided not to go on stage because of fact-checking… we couldn’t compromise on that.”
As [NABJ president Ken] Lemon was preparing that statement, Trump walked onto the stage.
That is downright bizarre!
"Between the lines: In the aftermath, members remain divided on whether it was right for NABJ to extend the invitation and give a platform to Trump. Some said it was embarrassing; others praised the interviewers for their tough questioning.
Brittany Cummings, a communications professional, was among the members who didn’t think the organization should have extended the invitation to Trump. “I’m not sure that any group of journalists has the ‘secret sauce’ to make him tell the truth and speak as a normal candidate would,” she said. “He’s not a normal candidate, so we can’t treat him as such.” “During the actual discussion, he was disrespectful, and I don’t think there was anything new to learn.”"
Almost as if Trumpublicans are weird. I mean, everyone is saying it.
I actually think they more or less missed an open goal here, to be honest. Sure, the overall appearance was probably a net negative for Trump, but it could have been way worse. They got him off balance from the start, but afterwards failed to push back when he started walking all over them in his responses.
It’s clear neither of the hosts could handle either holding him to his statements based on facts, or pushing back against his loudness and personal attacks. They let him control the narrative way too much with stuff like “millions and millions of illegal immigrants swarming in from insane asylums” going unchecked and loud “nasty woman” rants bulldozing over the hosts.