Rachel Maddow Criticizes NBC for Trump Town Hall

Joe Biden and Donald Trump had town halls at the exact same time on Thursday (October 15) (despite petitions and protests from Hollywood stars to stagger the time slots), and Biden easily won in the ratings department.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorExecutives at NBCUniversal, NBC News and the NBC broadcast network are not-so-quietly thanking an employee who has only limited command over the Comcast-owned company’s corporate direction: Savannah Guthrie.Guthrie’s handling of President Donald Trump during a town-hall broadcast organized in last-minute fashion by NBC News helped blunt waves of criticism of the media conglomerate, which scheduled the event directly opposite one with Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic

Also Read: Early Ratings: Biden's ABC Town Hall Tops Trump's on NBC“Seeing him back on primetime was like taking a time machine back to 2004 when he was just a blowhard reality TV host and nothing more,” he added.

During President Donald Trump's town hall on Thursday, current and former showrunners, producers and stars — including a handful of current and former NBC talent — who signed aletter of protest against the event continued to criticize the network for its decision and how the event played out. More than 100 top figures in the industry had criticized the network on Wednesday for choosing to air the town hall during the same day and time as ABC'stown hall with former vice president Joe Biden.

Todayco-anchor Savannah Guthrie kicked off Thursday night's NBC town hall in Miami with President Donald Trump addressing the scheduling chaos and controversy around the debate-turned-solo event. "We want to say right off the top this is not how things were supposed to go tonight," theTodayco-anchor said at the top of the debate.

Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie moderated a town hall with President on NBC October 15 and is garnering a fair amount of praise for her handling of the situation, which once again saw POTUS avoiding answering questions and going off on rambling tangents. Before the town hall even aired, it was surrounded by controversy.

QAnon, pressing him and not letting him evade answering. The town hall was a replacement of sorts for the debate Mr.

Tonight was to have been the second of three presidential debates between incumbent Donald Trump and challenger Biden. When Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, the debate commission changed the format to a virtual debate.

Ted Johnson, Dominic Patten As puzzling as it was that NBC News scheduled its town hall with Donald Trump against ABC News and Joe Biden, credit is due to moderator Savannah Guthrie for turning it into much more of an hourlong interview than a series of softballs from everyday folk.Throughout the hour, she peppered the president with questions on his COVID-19 testing, on his retweets of conspiracy theories, on whether he’s indebted to the tune of $400 million.It was a bit of a recovery for the

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Trump wanted to run and ramble. Savannah Guthrie wouldn’t let him.In what may be the performance of a career, the popular “Today” anchor kept a tight rein on the proceedings of a controversial town-hall event with President Donald Trump that put NBC in the cross-hairs of critics and Hollywood A-listers.

Ted Johnson, Dominic Patten Donald Trump’s town hall with NBC News — competing against a similar event with Joe Biden on ABC News — opened with a contentious series of questions with moderator Savannah Guthrie.At times, Trump sounded angry and irate as Guthrie grilled him over the details of his testing results, his failure to immediately condemn white supremacists and his trafficking of conspiracy theories.Guthrie, co-anchor of Today, asked Trump why he retweeted a tweet earlier this week that

Add Donald Trump to the list of people who are upset about NBC's decision to host a town hall with the president opposite a similar event featuring rival Joe Biden on ABC. Trump bashed the network during a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, saying in part, “So you know I’m being set up tonight.

Zing! Conan O'Brien on Thursday had a striking (and personal) takedown of NBC, which is under heavy criticism for scheduling a town hall event with President Donald Trump during an ABC town hall with former Vice President Joe Biden. "I can’t remember the last time I was this shocked by an NBC programming decision,"O'Brien quipped Thursday.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsRefresh for updates: Tension between Thursday night’s presidential town halls continues to unfold as hoards of Twitter users are calling to boycott NBC’s coverage of President Donald Trump in favor of ABC’s Joe Biden event. Outrage sparked as NBC announced that its town hall will air at the same time and date as ABC’s.

Peter White Television EditorConan O’Brien has poked fun at his former employer NBC over its handling of President Donald Trump’s town hall – a dig that drew comparisons to the way the network bungled The Tonight Show succession.The late-night host tweeted, “I can’t remember the last time I was this shocked by an NBC programming decision.”This comes ten years after O’Brien left The Tonight Show in January 2010, a mere seven months after he got the gig.

Donald Trump at 8 p.m. on Thursday, which is the exact time when Joe Biden's town hall is airing on ABC.The second presidential debate was originally scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m., though it has since been canceled after Trump refused to participate in a virtual format following his coronavirus diagnosis.

Donald Trump is putting NBC on blast at the same time as Hollywood stars.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will no doubt make news when they take part in dueling town halls this evening on NBC and ABC. But the networks broadcasting their events may be looking less at headlines the two politicians will generate and more at the money they will draw.NBC and ABC hope to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue from their 8 p.m.

Dominic Patten Senior Editor, Legal & TV CriticNBC are taking a lot of heat today for scheduling a primetime town hall with Donald Trump tonight opposite Joe Biden on ABC, including from the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host himself.“So you know I’m being set up tonight,” Trump just told a reelection campaign rally in North Carolina.

NBC News faced a sharp backlash to its decision to host President Donald Trump for a town hall Thursday in direct competition with ABC’s event with Democrat Joe Biden, including a social media call to boycott the network.