The long-awaited first presidential debate took place Monday night, and for those who suspected that Republican nominee Donald Trump would be ganged up on by his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt, those suspicions may have been confirmed.
According to the Washington Examiner, Trump was challenged with followup questions from Holt at least six times, while Clinton was asked exactly none.
Trump was pressed repeatedly early on by Holt regarding his tax returns and reluctance to release them publicly. After some back and forth on the issue, with Trump remarking that they were under audit by the IRS and that his lawyers insisted they not be released, he finally stated that he would release them after Clinton released her tens of thousands of deleted emails.
Trump also received pushback from Holt on the issue of “stop and frisk” policing, which he supported in some form for high-crime areas. Holt insisted that the practice was unconstitutional and racially biased.
He also faced questions on the “birther” controversy, with Holt asking “what took you so long” in regard to Trump’s recent announcement that President Barack Obama was born in the U.S., an announcement intended to put the issue to rest but which has only rekindled it for liberals.
Only once did Holt come close to asking Clinton a tough followup question when, during a segment on race relations and the police, he asked what could be done to address the supposed “implicit bias” or institutionalized racism that apparently is inherent in all police officers and departments.
In response to that, Clinton not only doubled down on her belief that police departments are “implicitly biased,” but also extended that bias to all Americans, essentially echoing her “deplorables” comment by claiming that all American citizens suffer “implicit bias” that they must overcome — presumably by being good progressive citizens who recognize their inherent “privilege.”
Lester Holt did not press Clinton on a number of issues about which she could and should have been pressed, and seemed more focused on attempting to keep Trump on topic than in reining in any of Clinton’s meandering and truth-averse statements.
This was not unexpected by some, and the next debate will probably be worse than the first in this regard.
(via: Conservative Tribune)
