Vox: 5 winners and 3 losers from the dueling Trump-Biden town halls

[TomCADem]

Whenever Trump has to answer questions, and is prevent from simply blustering his way through questions, he looks bad.

https://www.vox.com/2020/10/15/21518677/trump-biden-town-hall-winners-losers

Winner: Savannah Guthrie. Loser: Trump.

Dueling town halls between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden created a stark contrast between the two candidates — but probably not the one the president wanted.

This is all because Trump refused to do Thursday’s planned virtual town hall debate due to his Covid-19 diagnosis, so Biden decided to schedule a solo town hall on ABC at 8 pm Eastern. Trump, looking to counterprogram Biden, convinced NBC to schedule his own town hall at the same time — hoping to win the ratings war and come out looking stronger than Biden.

Trump may regret that strategy; he faced hard questions from voters and NBC host Savannah Guthrie on issues ranging from wearing masks to electoral fraud to Trump’s refusal to disavow extremist groups, eliciting a series of responses that ranged from blatantly false (claiming masks don’t really work) to the dangerously absurd (suggesting some parts of the QAnon conspiracy theory might actually be true).

Meanwhile, Biden’s town hall was calm, polite, and packed with policy substance. Biden laid out plans for how he would get Covid-19 under control and reorient the economy toward being more equitable for lower-income Americans — two things Trump has not accomplished. For voters yearning for a return to some sense of normalcy, Biden hit all the right notes.

[SheltieLover]

1. K&R!

She handed his fat ass to him on a platter.

[Hoyt]

2. So, can we stop bashing NBC for allowing trump to eviscerate himself tonight?

[KS Toronado]

14. Yep, it's time to quit bashing NBC, Appears they had a plot no one was aware of.

I wanted to watch the first few minutes just to see how easy Chuck Todd would be on him.
Here comes Savannah Guthrie and she's cornering him every chance she gets, asking the
questions every journalist should be asking everyday, and it took the first 20 minutes of the
program. She was respectful and mad as hell at him at the same time. Would encourage
everyone to watch the first 20 minutes as it was funny, should be up on you tube by now.

[Caliman73]

23. Not really.

Guthrie acquitted herself well, and we know that Trump is a flaming bag of crap. The problem is that he so easily bullies and manipulates that media and NBC gave him a platform after a tantrum.

It was a bad decision from NBC that had obviously poor outcome because Trump is crap.

[Hoyt]

24. I'm glad they let him on. Didn't help him.

[Caliman73]

25. Yes, we are all glad of the outcome.

Yes, it was likely predictable that he would do poorly. He is coming unglued.

Still, NBC's motivation for giving Trump a platform was for NONE of those reasons. They got bullied AND/OR saw dollar signs. That was their calculus.

Bad choice. Good outcome.

[11 Bravo]

26. THIS

Spot on! I was stunned by Guthrie, but remain disgusted at NBC caving to the porcine petulant prick.

[MoonlitKnight]

28. Agree. The fact that the moderator had to get that involved

Just reinforces the fact that it was a bad decision by NBC to allow this to happen.

They allowed a liar a platform. Those lies are actually killing people. That alone makes it an awful decision.

But they went further, rewarding a candidate who bailed on the debate. Undermining the debates in the process.

It was a publicity stunt that thankfully backfired for both. But the outcome doesn’t make it right.

[Sherman A1]

29. Precisely

NBC can take a flying leap from my point of view.

[napi21]

3. I haven't heard what the viewership was on each town hall, but I'd bet Biden beat the s**t out of

DT. I switched to DT when a commercial cameo the Biden one and he always sounded like he was whining & crying. After a few switches. I just watchid the ads on the Biden town hall.

[The Magistrate]

4. Great Piece, Sir!

Thanks for sharing it.

[Initech]

5. I think we can all agree this was the biggest loser of the evening, right?

Link to tweet

[Lucinda]

8. +1

[TheBlackAdder]

9. WAP yet thirsty at the same time.

[SunSeeker]

12. EEEEUUUWWW

[gopiscrap]

17. damn, I am about to barf

how could you even think that orange anus is handsome?

[Initech]

18. Stockholm Syndrome?

That's the only thing I can think of, Trump has held America hostage for four years and his followers are now attracted to him.

[gopiscrap]

19. exactly, or blindness

[SunSeeker]

21. Turns out she only likes his smile, not him.

Despite the comments that may have implied she is a fan, Dale told the Miami New Times after the event that she doesn’t actually like the president and plans to pull the for Joe Biden when early voting begins on Monday in Florida. “I wish he would smile more and talk less,” she told the newspaper after the event, adding that Trump “steps in it every time he opens his mouth.” And lest anyone not truly believe her, she said, “I think the man has a nice smile. However, I’m not a fan.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/paulette-dean-nbc-town-hall-voter-who-complimented-trump-on-his-smile-says-shes-voting-for-biden

[SunSeeker]

20. Turns out she'll vote for Biden!

Despite the comments that may have implied she is a fan, Dale told the Miami New Times after the event that she doesn’t actually like the president and plans to pull the for Joe Biden when early voting begins on Monday in Florida. “I wish he would smile more and talk less,” she told the newspaper after the event, adding that Trump “steps in it every time he opens his mouth.” And lest anyone not truly believe her, she said, “I think the man has a nice smile. However, I’m not a fan.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/paulette-dean-nbc-town-hall-voter-who-complimented-trump-on-his-smile-says-shes-voting-for-biden

[underpants]

6. Good article. Read it earlier.

[Lucinda]

7. KNR

[SleeplessinSoCal]

10. Wasn't the ABC Town Hall the 2nd part of the one tweeter did already?

Unless I missed that one.

[flibbitygiblets]

11. "You're the president; you're not someone's crazy uncle where you just retweet whatever"

[KS Toronado]

13. He's Mary Trumps crazy uncle who loves to tweet.

[burrowowl]

15. Kick

[speaknow]

16. Did anyone expect

something different from DJT. NBC should have
known better. Nothing but a waste of time
from him. Keep voting, the lines are huge and
the wait is long, but it is worth it.

[malaise]

22. I heard on CNN that Biden will only participate in the final debate

if the Con is tested and evidence presented to the debate officials.

[onetexan]

30. Excellent! No need to risk his life just to hear the same crap from the Con. Biden's time would be

better spent at another town hall or some stumping event where every protection possible is made to make sure he and everyone attending remains safe. A good number of Americans have already voted. Creating another forum for the blowhard to spew lies and hate is not needed.

[Cha]

27. Yeah, ChickenShitrump & his "senior advisor" chose the Wrong

strategy.. how'd that "free hour" work out for ya, Puppet.