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[Empyrean Heaven]

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box...-trump-to-lester-holt-dont-fact-check-debates

“I think he has to be a moderator,” the Republican nominee said on “Fox & Friends” Thursday.

"I mean, if you’re debating somebody and if she makes a mistake or I make a mistake ... we’ll take each other on," he added. “But I certainly don’t think you want Candy Crowley again."

Crowley interjected during an October 2012 debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney after Romney said it took Obama two weeks to refer to the Benghazi, Libya, attacks as terrorism.

“She turned out to be wrong,”he said. "I really don’t think you want that. That was a very pivotal moment in that debate. And it really threw the debate off and it was unfair. No, I think you have to have somebody that’s just — let them argue it out.”

First off, no she didn't.

Second, IS THIS GUY FUCKING SERIOUS?!? He's basically admitting "Don't check facts with anything I say, it's all bullshit!".

 

[BitStyle]

He's afraid of being sonned in a "please proceed" trap like Romney lol.
I hope they don't concede to his whining.

 

[Lys Skygge]

The first debate is going to be legendary.

 

[RustyNails]

Facts have liberal bias.

 

[Like the hat?]

It's pathetically clear how terrified he is

 

[Ithil]

"If anyone points out I'm wrong, they're biased!".

Between the "The Republican moderator is a Democrat and probably biased" to "The entire impartial committee handling the debates are biased against me" and now "Fact checking is bad!", all in advance of the first debate, it's painfully obvious he knows he's going to get eviscerated at these debates and is trying to save face in advance.

 

[GuyKazama]

The moderator shouldn't inject himself into the debate.

 

[Jeels]

She turned out to be right.

Just goes to show that one party in this country isn't concerned with the facts because they aren't concerned with actually governing.

 

[zelas]

Let's stop calling him and his supporters out though.

 

[Shadybiz]

This could be the greatest debate in the history of the country.

 

[BinaryPork2737]

The moderator shouldn't inject himself into the debate.

If a candidate says something that is factually incorrect, they should be called out on it during the debate so people watching the debate won't think that what the candidate said is true.

 

[fantomena]

It's on monday!?

Holy fuck, can't wait. Seriously gotta buy some snacks for it. It will be live streamed, right?

 

[Pastry]

Yes, we know you want to just make shit up and hope it sticks.

 

[thefro]

If someone blatantly lies, the other person calls them out on it, and the other person still blatantly lies about the same thing again, the moderator absolutely should step in at that point.

It's not "durp durp durp the facts don't matter".

 

[Memento Mori]

I should be able to lie as much as I want!

 

[SliceSabre]

Trump knows he's going to get annihilated up there.

 

[toneroni]

michaeljacksonpopcorn.gif

It's going to be glorious

 

[BriGuy]

The moderator shouldn't inject himself into the debate.

Without an impartial arbitrator calling people on their bullshit, you have two people on stage yelling slogans at each other.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

I'm terrified that Trump is just going to steamroll the moderators of these debates with his blowhard B.S., and they'll just happily eat it up, turn to Clinton, and ask about emails.

 

[Pastry]

He knows that he stands no chance in a debate where facts are required so his only chance is too lie his ass off.

 

[Boney]

He'll probably just yell loudly, call her crooked Hillary and imply about her husband cheating on her makes her weak.

No walls, no budget cuts, no health care no nothing that may put him in trouble by being out of his element.

He'll play it as a reality tv show instead of a presidential debate, and that depresses me.

 

[Your Entertainer]

If a candidate says something that is factually incorrect, they should be called out on it during the debate so people watching the debate won't think that what the candidate said is true.

This.

 

[Funky Papa]

While I'm sure Hillary will destroy him (not that I believe this would affect any potential outcome), I wish he were debating Biden instead of her for the sheer fuckery of it.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The moderator shouldn't inject himself into the debate.

There has to be a check in place to stop a candidate from just blitzing the entire debate with false statements. There has to be the threat there, that one of them will get shot down on live television.

Otherwise he'll just stand up there and tell blatant lies, derail the entire debate and either force Clinton to use her time to fact check in real time (and then it's he said she said), or just ignore it, and have the lie live on.

 

[TumblingHippo]

Never forget. I'd be scared of this too if I was Trump.

 

[Codeblue]

The moderator shouldn't inject himself into the debate.

They absolutely should be impartial fact checkers, because supporters won't take the other side's word that their candidate is lying.

I absolutely want another Crowley situation if he's going to go up their and use crime statistics from a department that doesn't exist like he does in his tweets.

 

[shoreu]

I honestly wish a buzzer would go off for each lie and make you explain

 

[Surfinn]

I'm expecting big things out of this first debate.

 

[D i Z]

He's not afraid of facts, he just doesn't believe in relying on them for a sales pitch. They get in the way.
Selling the fantasy is what he does, and it's what he intends to keep on doing.
Notice that if anyone else had been fact checked as much as he gets, they'd be sunk.
He's not selling reality to these people. They don't want it.

 

[Hazmat]

I have to imagine that he's scared that someone, for the first time to his face, will tell him that he's lying when he says he was against invading Iraq. Please, Lester, do it.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Why has Trump been targeting Holt in particular out of all the moderators? Hmm

 

[bachikarn]

He knows (some) people won't believe Clinton when she tries to call him out on his BS. Having an impartial person do it definitely lends to the credibility.

 

[xxracerxx]

He is just pissing himself over this debate, isn't he?

 

[Protein]

I feel like they're going to throw softballs at Trump due to this strategy, and attack Hillary the whole time about emails.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

I think Brexit taught the world that's it's not important what's true, it's more important what people "feel".


lol

 

[B-Dubs]

While I'm sure Hillary will destroy him (not that I believe this would affect any potential outcome), I wish he were debating Biden instead of her for the sheer fuckery of it.

You and me both. Hillary's going to stomp the fool into dust, but Biden would style on him. I'd pay pay-per-view prices to get the latter debate.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Oh please let this debate turn into a "Ronda Rousey VS Holly Holm" siuation.

 

[GuyKazama]

They absolutely should be impartial fact checkers, because supporters won't take the other side's word that their candidate is lying.

I absolutely want another Crowley situation if he's going to go up their and use crime statistics from a department that doesn't exist like he does in his tweets.

It simply isn't possible. If he fact checks one, and misses another, it will look like he is taking sides -- and all the attention will be on him. See Candy Crowley as an example.

 

[Palmer_v1]

Facts do tend to have a liberal bias.

 

[Pastry]

I feel like they're going to throw softballs at Trump due to this strategy, and attack Hillary the whole time about emails.

Don't they answer the same question? I forget how the format is.

 

[tuxfool]

It simply isn't possible. If he fact checks one, and misses another, it will look like he is taking sides -- and all the attention will be on him. See Candy Crowley as an example.

That is on him. Too bad.

 

[djplaeskool]

lol
Sorry Don, a moderator has a right to point out blatant BS.

 

[Cagey]

He's smartly setting the expectations that it's all rigged.

Now, it says a lot when you're saying "fact checking a debate I'm in means you're going to be biased against me", but it doesn't matter.

Beyond Trump working himself into a shoot and using some overtly bigoted language, he may get objectively destroyed / annihilated / eviscerated / ethered / bodied / murdered / skinned alive, but if that's not how the public perceived the debate then it doesn't matter.

I'm concerned he walks over the professionalism bar set for him that's buried in the dirt and emerges from the first debate unscathed.

 

[Epsilon-delta]

He is just pissing himself over this debate, isn't he?

It's obvious at this point. Trump is going to get destroyed by Hillary.

 

[B-Dubs]

It simply isn't possible. If he fact checks one, and misses another, it will look like he is taking sides -- and all the attention will be on him. See Candy Crowley as an example.

So they're just supposed to let the candidates lie blatantly and without shame? Because that's Trump's entire strategy.

 

[InaSnowBoundLand]

He thinks so little of America that he wants a license to lie and babble incoherently. If he cared anything about this country, he'd be much more like his superior Hillary Clinton -- he'd fact check himself, he'd listen to professionals and experts, and he'd avoid blurting out conspiracy theories with zero evidence. There are consequences to legitimizing falsehoods and misinformation as valid political discourse. The truth may be complicated to discern, but it's not complicated to know that one candidate doesn't even try; he does everything he can to obscure it. But that's what Trump is; that's what people are voting for. He's Hillary's inferior in every way.

 

[LiK]

Looking forward to Clinton destroying him and Holt smiling through it.

 

[studyguy]

Please proceed Mr. Trump.

 

[GuyKazama]

So they're just supposed to let the candidates lie blatantly and without shame? Because that's Trump's entire strategy.

The candidates want to be President -- they should be able to call out each other's lies themselves. The moderator is there just to keep things in relative order.

 

[SlimySnake]

He's right. The debate is between two presidential candidates. The moderator's job is to moderate, not debate. That's how it's always been. The whole fact checking, interview style nonsense is something that started this year in the primaries. I remember Fox News playing clips and asking candidates to defend themselves. umm, hes not debating Fox News. You have your own shows to do this.

Same goes for Jorge Ramos asking Hillary to promise free citizenship to all. WTF is that. You are supposed to pose a topic to BOTH candidates and let them duke it out. Your only job is to make sure they dont go over their time. That's it.

We have fact checks on the morning papers for a reason.