Everyone knew that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was going to have a difficult time at Sunday night’s debate, as a video of incredibly lewd comments Trump made in 2005 surfaced over the weekend.
But debate moderator Martha Raddatz’s pro-Hillary Clinton bias wasn’t helping the polarizing GOP nominee one bit. Right from the get-go, ABC News’ Raddatz cut Trump off as he was answering a question about the aforementioned video.
Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz should be ashamed of themselves for starting the debate with this trash. Disgraceful to my profession
— Andy P. Poulton (@APoulton_Live) October 10, 2016
Never will I cheer for Trump, but he must be allowed to finish his answers just as my candidate is. Shame on Martha Raddatz!!
— Brishon Bond (@BrishonB) October 10, 2016
So, when Trump gets applause they are admonished, when Hillary gets applause, nothing is said! Raddatz and Cooper are bought by Dems #debate
— Michael H. Wilson (@votewilson14) October 10, 2016
So Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz don't like cheers for Trump zingers. Hmmmm. #debates
— Marc (@USAMensaDropout) October 10, 2016
As the debate continued, Anderson Cooper proved no better.
Ok, I'm not on Trump's side, but Anderson Cooper is pissing me off with his constant interruptions to cross-examine. #debates
— #OnlyGod #NeverGovt (@freelancer1787) October 10, 2016
Is Anderson Cooper debating Trump or is Clinton? Hard to tell with all the interruptions of add on questions by the moderator #Debates2016
— Danielle Bjorlo (@DanielleBjorlo) October 10, 2016
Eventually, Trump got fed up with his treatment.
RADDATZ: "Answer the question."
TRUMP: "You interrupt me all the time. Why don't you interrupt her?"
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 10, 2016
Raddatz didn’t take. In fact, she repeatedly tried to debate Mr. Trump herself.
sonofthebronx: Debate moderator Martha Raddatz implores Donald Trump to … CBS CBS News: The… https://t.co/KRzA8eY0uApic.twitter.com/DsTog1puu0
— FanNewsClips (@FanNewsClips) October 10, 2016
Why is Martha Raddatz debating Trump about why the military does what they do? What was that? #Debate
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) October 10, 2016
Trump may be BS-ing on Syria, but Raddatz overstepping. No light touch at all. #debate
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 10, 2016
Trump is defeating Hillary easily tonight.
Trump vs. Raddatz is a draw thus far. #debate
— steveparkhurst (@SteveParkhurst) October 10, 2016
Raddatz once again cuts off Trump, prevents him from responding to Hillary on her Senate record. Pivots to Syria #ThreeOnOneDebate#debate
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 10, 2016
Hey, @andersoncooper - why don't you admonish Martha Raddatz for heckling Trump? This is RIDICULOUS. #debate#ThreeOnOneDebate
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 10, 2016
But going into the debate, it was pretty clear Martha Raddatz would be the most biased.
Recall, this is the woman who described Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the House Benghazi committee as “riveting.”
“It was truly a riveting day on Capitol Hill. We don’t say that very often, with Secretary Clinton as some have never seen her before. She was at times, combative, charming, disarming and clearly ready for a fight.”
— ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz on Good Morning America, January 24, 2013.
She’s also previously described Clinton as “cool” and “trending.”
But, frankly, her bias was expected. This isn’t the ABC correspondent’s first outing as a debate moderator. Back in 2012, she moderated the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, and at times that debate felt like a 2-on-1 gang-up on the Republican.
Raddatz allowed Biden to incessantly interrupt Ryan and, as Breitbart News reported in 2012, she attacked the Republican VP candidate at least nine separate times.
A Media Research Center report at the time found that Raddatz’s questions obviously skewed in one camp’s favor:
Out of 48 discrete questions and follow-ups, a plurality (19, or 40%) incorporated a pro-Obama/Biden or anti-Romney/Ryan agenda, vs. 25% (12 questions) that skewed in the other direction and 35% (17 questions) that were neutral or purely information-seeking.
Raddatz showed almost no bias in her foreign policy questions, which split down the middle: eight pro-Romney vs. seven pro-Obama (not counting the neutrals). But on domestic issues, especially on the budget and taxes, she practically joined Joe Biden in pounding on Paul Ryan, with a dozen questions that incorporated liberal campaign themes, compared to just four based on a conservative premises, a stark three-to-one liberal tilt.
Of course, it wasn’t surprising Raddatz played for Team Obama, considering Obama was a guest at her wedding in 1991.
Why does the Republican Party agree to let agenda-driven moderators like Martha Raddatz continue to control these debates?
Just, why???