Media goes wild over Trump, Biden dueling town halls
Presidential candidates face off on separate stages, networks; reaction from the 'Special Report' All-Star panel
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow appeared to immediately distance her network from the NBC town hall featuring President Trump.
The town hall, which aired on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC simultaneously, had faced swift backlash leading up to the event after the Peacock Network announced that it would be airing opposite of the ABC town hall featuring Joe Biden.
Immediately after the Savannah Guthrie-moderated town hall concluded, Maddow came on the air with a rather blunt reaction to the telecast.
"Well, that happened," Maddow began. "Let me remind you that what you just saw was a production of NBC News. We are MSNBC. We did not produce that event. We simulcasted here along with CNBC. But that was a weird replacement for what was otherwise supposed to be the second presidential debate of this general election."
NBC was panned by critics for the hostility Guthrie had towards Trump, comparing her conduct to a "debate" with the president.
During her Wednesday night interview with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, the "Rachel Maddow Show" host hinted at her disapproval of the NBC town hall.
"Are you as mad as everybody else is that NBC is doing a town hall with President Trump tomorrow instead of the debate at the same time that Vice President Biden's going to be on ABC?" Maddow asked with a grin.
"I'm not touching that," Harris chuckled.
Maddow then followed that question with another one, suggesting that Trump shouldn't be given any airtime for his refusal to participate in a virtual debate.
"Should the networks refuse to give the president other opportunities for airtime if he's the one who refuses the chance to debate?" Maddow asked.
"You know, I'm not going to tell the networks what to do," Harris responded. "But I'll tell ya, I know who I'm going to be watching, so there you go!"
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While the roughly 40-minute interview was full of laughter, there was no mention of the explosive New York Post report that reveals a 2015 email Hunter Biden allegedly received from a member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, who appeared to thank him for "giving an opportunity" to meet his father, then-Vice President Biden.
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