First Debate Shows Signs of Media Bias

The first Presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York was moderated by MSNBC anchor Lester Holt. By all indications, Holt was slanted toward Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton in his questioning. A record audience of 84 million watched the debate.
There was a lot of chatter among media commentators that NBC’s Matt Lauer was too easy on Republican Donald Trump at an earlier Town Hall event on national security. In fact Lauer asked Trump twice as many questions as he asked Clinton and frequently interrupted Trump.
In the Hofstra debate, Holt asked six questions to both candidates, 15 individual questions to Trump and only two individual questions to Clinton. His first indication of favoritism toward Clinton was when Trump made a statement about the need to improve America’s sluggish economy. Holt interjected that the economy is improving. The fact is, the economy has been growing at less than 2% for most of the past eight years, far below the normal rate.
The buzz phrase used before the debate was that Holt should “fact check” statements by the candidates, which means deciding on the fly whether the statements were accurate. Only statements by Trump were “fact-checked”. When Trump accurately mentioned that New York City’s “stop-and-frisk” policing policy instituted by Mayor Rudy Giuliani dramatically reduced the annual murder rate and other crime incidents, Clinton said that was false. Stop-and-frisk is a policy in which police may search a suspect if a reasonable suspicion exists. Holt inaccurately claimed that stop-and-frisk has been declared unconstitutional.
Trump cited Clinton’s support for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement when she served as Secretary of State. Clinton’s challenger in the Democrat primaries, Sen. Bernie Sanders, gained momentum by asserting that TPP was sending American jobs overseas, leading Clinton to change her position. When Trump noted that Clinton previously called TPP the “gold standard” of trade agreements, Holt chose not to “fact check”.
Many of the questions posed to Trump appeared to be loaded, including one in which Holt asked why Trump challenged President Obama to produce his birth certificate after his election. Holt asserted that Trump was still making that an issue in the 2016 campaign. Trump said unequivocally at a recent press conference that the birth certificate was produced and that President Obama was born on American soil.
Another controversial moment in the debate was when Holt asked Trump that why he hasn’t released his tax returns. Trump emphasized that he and his company are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and said he would release the tax returns when the audit is complete. Releasing tax returns is not required of federal candidates. Trump complied with the Federal Election Commission requirement to disclose all of his financial assets.
Holt also challenged Trump’s opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq to depose dictator Saddam Hussein, citing a non-declarative statement he made in an interview with entertainment radio host Howard Stern. The public record shows numerous statements showing Trump’s opposition to the Iraq invasion on the basis that it would destabilize the region. Trump also criticized the money America was spending on “nation-building” in post-Saddam Iraq.
When Trump challenged Clinton on storing classified e-mails on a private e-mail server and putting national security at risk, Holt merely asked Clinton if she wanted to respond. She declined. There were no questions about Clinton’s false statement about an internet video leading to the raid on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya or anything related to the personal use of funds contributed to the Clinton Foundation. Nothing was asked about why financial institutions paid Clinton approximately $20 Million to give speeches.
The next Presidential debate will be held Sun., Oct. 9 with moderators Martha Raddatz from ABC and Anderson Cooper from CNN. I hope it is much more even-handed. I predict an even larger audience for Round 2.
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.