My email to CNN

[UpInArms]

I want you to know that I watched the debate last night. I will never ever give your station/channel/website the opportunity to have my attention again.

You are a disgrace to the viewing public. That you allowed such hideous lies to be aired by Donald Trump, convicted felon, known liar, inciter of hate and destruction of democracy, without anything but a “thanks” from your “professional” team is beyond disgusting. It is abhorrent and will not be tolerated by me, a decent and concerned citizen of this United States.

I will tell everyone that you failed. You failed miserably. And, then I read that Brian Steltzer was so proud of what you had done. It made me sick at heart. You are so hideously clueless. I hope you have the ability to posses shame. Because that is what you should feel.

Make it right. And do it now.

[Wednesdays]

1. That's awesome

but I fear it will just end up in CNN's circular file.

[senseandsensibility]

2. That's been my experience

unfortunately, but it's still a righteous rant and I hope someone reads it!

[DinahMoeHum]

3. CNN should NEVER have gotten another chance

after that disastrous "town hall" with Trump in May of 2023.

People warned them back then that there was no way one can "fact-check" Trump in real time because he spews a "volcano of bullshit" and a "firehose of fuckery" (the first item was said by former Capitol police officer Michael Fanone, btw)

Some folks never learn.

[PatSeg]

8. My understanding was that according

to the conditions of the debate, the moderators were not allowed to factcheck in real time. Still it seems that they could have pushed back a little, while still staying within the conditions of the agreement.

[niyad]

14. The fact check could have been done with chyrons right in view.

[sop]

16. Perhaps a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen: "Everything Trump says is a lie, believe it at your own risk."

[dchill]

19. But fact-checking is NOT what they were trying to do.

[PatSeg]

22. Yeah, they barely seemed to even be present

I suppose they were just grateful that the debate wasn't a rerun of that debacle in 2016 with Chris Wallace.

The idea that a sitting president should be debating a convicted felon on national TV is a bit preposterous to begin with. Once Trump was convicted, the debates should have been cancelled.

[dchill]

23. They were grenade fishing.

[PatSeg]

25. Oh whoa, I've never heard that phrase before,

but it does seem to sum things up quite well.

[dchill]

27. I just reminded me of grenade fishing, that's all!

Everyone just floats up, stunned.

[PatSeg]

30. Yeah, that's a keeper

[barbtries]

17. disclosure i didn't watch it

after the first couple minutes. but couldn't they have at the very least insisted on an answer to the question they asked?

CNN is a lost cause i believe.

[PatSeg]

24. Well, they DID try repeatedly

to bring Trump back to the question, but without any satisfactory response. Trump has been a disaster in every debate he has participated in. This was a terrible idea. Biden has some really sharp people on his campaign. They should have seen this coming.

[barbtries]

31. 20-20 hindsight.

there should not have been a debate. you cannot engage in a debate with TCFSF

[PatSeg]

33. Yes, there is a whole lot of 20-20 hindsight

going around today, myself included. It is easy to say it was a bad idea the next day.

But then again, I don't get paid to anticipate these things and his campaign staff does.

[Hugin]

37. Demanding that Trump answer the questions isn't "fact checking"...

His replies linked end-to-end amounted to one of his stump speeches. He failed to answer one of the questions posed by the moderators and allegedly gathered from public input.

[PatSeg]

41. Yeah, Trump was on a roll

and he pretty much took charge of the debate. He knew he could bully his way through and that is exactly what they allowed him to do.

[Hugin]

42. Allowed is the key word here, PatSeg.

Trump didn’t do that all on his own. He was enabled and it violated the rules that were agreed upon for this debate by both campaigns. Yet, there were crickets until the bellowing for President Biden to step down sounded. Even among those who should have Biden’s back.

I have never observed such a repulsive display of journalistic opportunism, malfeasance, and cowardice. I hope for the sake of our democracy, I never see it again. The fish indeed, rots from the head.

At least we now know the medel of those who claim to be on our side.

[PatSeg]

43. And a few of them are people that

I have admired and respected. They have been around long enough to know what they are advising or suggesting is hardly feasible at this point. Evidently too many of them have mostly been observing performance over actual substance and policy.

I have never seen a president accomplish what I've seen Biden accomplish, at least not in my lifetime. Just imagine what he could do in the first two years of a second term if he has both the house and the senate.

[pwb]

4. The wealth class cable owners probably gave the millionaire T V talkers a big bonus

just before the show. With a wink wink.

[Silent Type]

5. I can't blame CNN. Biden was given every opportunity to rebut trump's BS. His responses just didn't have the snap

needed last night.

Hopefully that will improve and/or people see who trump is. Not confident anyone who hasn't already rejected trump will see it that way.

[UpInArms]

7. I respectfully disagree.

Biden attempted to answer the questions put to him. He played by the rules. He answered the questions. It was not supposed to be a gladiator fight.

[markodochartaigh]

10. I would ask everyone

to imagine trying to "debate" an unabashed liar using facts in a limited time frame. Carl Sagan would have come second debating Trump on whether the Earth is flat. Trump has an extraordinary advantage in having a huge base who care only about their beliefs and scorn any facts which contradict their beliefs.

[sop]

18. Trump: "Are you not entertained?"

[marble falls]

21. Exactomundo. He was invited to a "debate". It was a pie fight in reality.

[llashram]

6. +++

[XanaDUer2]

9. Excellent

I may. Thank you cnn for fact checking the plethora of lies

[mucholderthandirt]

11. Give them a break!

They're just doing their master's bidding, after all. I'm sure they want to keep collecting a salary while being all fair and balanced and such.

[DownriverDem]

12. The problem

is the MSM is corp owned & controlled. Your email to CNN was right on the mark. The news networks changed when they started using ratings when it came to staying employed by the network. Now they just do their networks bidding

[Music Man]

13. Donald Trump should have been pressed more, but anyone who thinks CNN was Biden's problem is in denial.

What does a lack of fact checking have to do with the fact that in the first question (before Trump had said anything), Biden was off? Or his closing statement when he's free to say whatever. Or--in the abortion answer--bringing up immigration?

If we're complaining about the refs, we're losing (especially since these are the rules of the debate, which our side pushed for). Biden did a bad job. It's OK to admit that. We have to so we can actually address what we need and try to win this fall.

[DeeDeeNY]

15. CNN should have arranged the questions so that

The topics of January 6 and whether Biden won in 2020 were the first ones asked of Trump.

[Abundance77]

20. Yes

I totally agree

[MOMFUDSKI]

26. CNN sucks but this fiasco is on Biden and

his people. All the rules were agreed to. Maybe Biden needs new advisers.

[elocs]

39. Absolutely! Biden & his staff knew the possibility of this happening

yet they agreed to go on with it with no upside to having anything that remotely even resembled a "debate". A major brain fart.

[flashman13]

28. Olbermann completely kicked CNN's butt around the block last night for allowing TSF to lie unchecked.

It was gross journalistic malfeasance. If the moderators were instructed to sit there with stupid looks on their faces while Trump lied like a run away fire hose, the correct thing to do would have been to withdraw.

[Cha]

29. Mahalo UpInArms!! Brilliantly

Done 🕯️🕊️💙🇺🇸🌊

[LoisB]

32. Excellent!

[Blue Owl]

34. Fuck yeah! I may do the same

Although I never watch CNN anyways....

[elocs]

40. How about MSNBC? It's to the point now where there really needs to be an approved DU media list. n/t

[kimbutgar]

35. I rarely if ever watch CNN they are fox light

I regret I watched it last night on their channel and gave them ratings.

[brooklynite]

36. Better prepare some more letters....

Debate moderators don’t challenge the answers of candidates. That’s the job of the opponent.

[W_HAMILTON]

38. Bullshit.

We've seen it done in other presidential debates and we've seen it done in recent debates this cycle -- see Boebert's recent debate -- by actually qualified moderators who take their responsibility seriously rather than talking heads who just show up and go through the motions.

If moderators are just there to ask questions, might as well just post the questions on a screen and have the camera and mic (cut off) guys do the work and save on money.

It shouldn't be up to one candidate to use all their allotted time factchecking the obvious and blatant lies being spewed by another candidate.

[live love laugh]

44. CNN's response

Republicans DGAF