Michael Gaynor
Lester Holt, loser of the first presidential debate, owes Donald Trump a HUGE apology
By Michael Gaynor
Apparently Holt was determined not to be accused of being too nice to Trump or too tough on Clinton.
NBC anchor Lester Holt may not have contributed money to the Clinton campaign, but he sure seemed to be trying to be as helpful to it as possible in shameful other ways.
As a presidential debate moderator, he was in a position to do it...and he followed the example of Candy Crowley in presuming to be an instant fact checking to help a Democrat presidential candidate and deceived viewers by making a false statement appear to be true.
He should have been civil to and equally tough on both of them, and not presumed to fact check, especially when he is woefully ignorant about basic constitutional law.
The ugly truth about the first presidential debate is that the so-called mainstream media is blatantly biased for Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump.
The bias of Holt was glaring, but the mainstream and progressive media liked it so much that Holt should ask for a raise.
Holt is a college dropout whose apparent ignorance of constitutional law made him wholly unfit to moderate any debate, much less, the first presidential debate of 2016.
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Holt):
Lester Don Holt, Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist who anchors the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News. He is also the anchor for Dateline NBC. On February 9, 2015, he became the interim weeknight NBC Nightly News anchor, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor Brian Williams. On June 18, 2015, he was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News after NBC decided to keep Brian Williams as MSNBC breaking news anchor and reporter and fill-in NBC News breaking news anchor and reporter.
Holt was born in Marin County, California, the son of June (DeRozario) and Lester Don Holt, Sr. His maternal grandparents were Jamaican. His maternal grandfather was of half English and half Indian descent.
He graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, in 1977 and attended California State University, Sacramento, and majored in government, though he never graduated. In 2012, Holt told American Profile news magazine: "My first on-air job was actually as a disc jockey at a Country and Western station. The only time I could land a full-time gig was if I was willing to report the news." Holt would keep the job with the radio station through his college years.
"Holt spent 19 years with CBS beginning in 1981, when he was hired as a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City. In 1982, he became a reporter and weekend anchor on KNXT in Los Angeles, and the next year he returned to WCBS-TV as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 1986, Holt moved to WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he spent 14 years anchoring the evening news. Holt not only worked at the anchor desk, but also reported extensively from troubled spots around the world including Iraq, Northern Ireland, Somalia, El Salvador and Haiti.
Holt joined MSNBC in 2000. In 2003, he assumed full-time duties at NBC News, where he became a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly Newsand Today. Holt became a full-time co-anchor of Weekend Today following the untimely death of previous co-anchor David Bloom. Until late 2005, he also anchored a two-hour daily newscast on MSNBC. On May 9, 2007, Holt was named anchor of the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News, succeeding John Seigenthaler. He also is a current host for NBC's Dateline.
In addition to his primary responsibilities at NBC News, he hosted a special for The History Channel about the 9/11 conspiracy theories, served as a sportsdesk reporter for NBC Sports coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is the host of Dateline on ID, an edition of Dateline NBC shown on the Investigation Discovery network. In 2008, he narrated a documentary regarding the actual crystal skulls on the Sci-Fi Channel.
From August 6, 2013, to September 2, 2013, Brian Williams was on medical leave in order to undergo right knee replacement surgery. Weekend anchor Lester Holt was interim anchor in his absence.
As a result of controversy after Williams admitted that he had exaggerated a story about the Iraq War, Williams announced on February 7, 2015, that he would take a temporary leave of absence from anchoring the Nightly News and that Holt would cover in his absence. Three days later, Williams was suspended without pay for six months, with Holt filling in as weekday anchor during that period. On June 17, 2015, NBC decided to keep Holt as its permanent NBC Nightly News anchor, while reassigning Williams to MSNBC at the end of his suspension.
Trump was polite to Holt at the debate, and very kind to him immediately afterward. He had focused on answering the questions asked to him directly instead of pivoting away from them and been "in the arena" as a participant, not watching.
Unfortunately, Holt was hardly "fair and balanced," and a second look at the debate makes it crystal clear that Holt was not within hailing distance of "fair and balanced" and not trying to be.
Apparently Holt was determined not to be accused of being too nice to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump or too tough to Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
When Trump bested Clinton as the Commander-in-Chieff Forum hosted by NBC's Matt Lauer, Lauer was pilloried for asking Clinton tough questions.
Holt absolutely made sure not to do that.
Nothing about her Benghazi scandal or Obamacare.
Not even a question about her email scandal.
Just a friendly invitation to comment, not a question by a probing journalist.
As to Trump, Holt tried to reinforce Clinton's attempt brand Trump a racist for supporting "stop and frisk" as a suitable tactic to use to reduce Chicago's horrendous murder rate during the Age of Obama. Holt falsely stated that "stop and frisk" had been ruled unconstitutional when the United States Supreme Court had ruled it constitutional nearly 50 years ago.
Even the single New York federal judge to whom Holt referred had not claimed that "stop and frisk" is unconstitutional per se, lest she be impeached for abusing her power and being insubordinate and disrespectful of the Supreme Court. Holt owes Trump a HUGE apology.
© Michael Gaynor
September 30, 2016
Apparently Holt was determined not to be accused of being too nice to Trump or too tough on Clinton.
NBC anchor Lester Holt may not have contributed money to the Clinton campaign, but he sure seemed to be trying to be as helpful to it as possible in shameful other ways.
As a presidential debate moderator, he was in a position to do it...and he followed the example of Candy Crowley in presuming to be an instant fact checking to help a Democrat presidential candidate and deceived viewers by making a false statement appear to be true.
He should have been civil to and equally tough on both of them, and not presumed to fact check, especially when he is woefully ignorant about basic constitutional law.
The ugly truth about the first presidential debate is that the so-called mainstream media is blatantly biased for Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump.
The bias of Holt was glaring, but the mainstream and progressive media liked it so much that Holt should ask for a raise.
Holt is a college dropout whose apparent ignorance of constitutional law made him wholly unfit to moderate any debate, much less, the first presidential debate of 2016.
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Holt):
Lester Don Holt, Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist who anchors the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News. He is also the anchor for Dateline NBC. On February 9, 2015, he became the interim weeknight NBC Nightly News anchor, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor Brian Williams. On June 18, 2015, he was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News after NBC decided to keep Brian Williams as MSNBC breaking news anchor and reporter and fill-in NBC News breaking news anchor and reporter.
Holt was born in Marin County, California, the son of June (DeRozario) and Lester Don Holt, Sr. His maternal grandparents were Jamaican. His maternal grandfather was of half English and half Indian descent.
He graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, in 1977 and attended California State University, Sacramento, and majored in government, though he never graduated. In 2012, Holt told American Profile news magazine: "My first on-air job was actually as a disc jockey at a Country and Western station. The only time I could land a full-time gig was if I was willing to report the news." Holt would keep the job with the radio station through his college years.
"Holt spent 19 years with CBS beginning in 1981, when he was hired as a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City. In 1982, he became a reporter and weekend anchor on KNXT in Los Angeles, and the next year he returned to WCBS-TV as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 1986, Holt moved to WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he spent 14 years anchoring the evening news. Holt not only worked at the anchor desk, but also reported extensively from troubled spots around the world including Iraq, Northern Ireland, Somalia, El Salvador and Haiti.
Holt joined MSNBC in 2000. In 2003, he assumed full-time duties at NBC News, where he became a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly Newsand Today. Holt became a full-time co-anchor of Weekend Today following the untimely death of previous co-anchor David Bloom. Until late 2005, he also anchored a two-hour daily newscast on MSNBC. On May 9, 2007, Holt was named anchor of the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News, succeeding John Seigenthaler. He also is a current host for NBC's Dateline.
In addition to his primary responsibilities at NBC News, he hosted a special for The History Channel about the 9/11 conspiracy theories, served as a sportsdesk reporter for NBC Sports coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is the host of Dateline on ID, an edition of Dateline NBC shown on the Investigation Discovery network. In 2008, he narrated a documentary regarding the actual crystal skulls on the Sci-Fi Channel.
From August 6, 2013, to September 2, 2013, Brian Williams was on medical leave in order to undergo right knee replacement surgery. Weekend anchor Lester Holt was interim anchor in his absence.
As a result of controversy after Williams admitted that he had exaggerated a story about the Iraq War, Williams announced on February 7, 2015, that he would take a temporary leave of absence from anchoring the Nightly News and that Holt would cover in his absence. Three days later, Williams was suspended without pay for six months, with Holt filling in as weekday anchor during that period. On June 17, 2015, NBC decided to keep Holt as its permanent NBC Nightly News anchor, while reassigning Williams to MSNBC at the end of his suspension.
Trump was polite to Holt at the debate, and very kind to him immediately afterward. He had focused on answering the questions asked to him directly instead of pivoting away from them and been "in the arena" as a participant, not watching.
Unfortunately, Holt was hardly "fair and balanced," and a second look at the debate makes it crystal clear that Holt was not within hailing distance of "fair and balanced" and not trying to be.
Apparently Holt was determined not to be accused of being too nice to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump or too tough to Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
When Trump bested Clinton as the Commander-in-Chieff Forum hosted by NBC's Matt Lauer, Lauer was pilloried for asking Clinton tough questions.
Holt absolutely made sure not to do that.
Nothing about her Benghazi scandal or Obamacare.
Not even a question about her email scandal.
Just a friendly invitation to comment, not a question by a probing journalist.
As to Trump, Holt tried to reinforce Clinton's attempt brand Trump a racist for supporting "stop and frisk" as a suitable tactic to use to reduce Chicago's horrendous murder rate during the Age of Obama. Holt falsely stated that "stop and frisk" had been ruled unconstitutional when the United States Supreme Court had ruled it constitutional nearly 50 years ago.
Even the single New York federal judge to whom Holt referred had not claimed that "stop and frisk" is unconstitutional per se, lest she be impeached for abusing her power and being insubordinate and disrespectful of the Supreme Court. Holt owes Trump a HUGE apology.
© Michael Gaynor
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