The chatter about President Donald Trump’s NBC News town hall Thursday has centered heavily on the host, Savannah Guthrie, who asked the president a series of pointed questions and rebuttals. Her most talked-about comment was that the president was not “like someone’s crazy uncle.”
Guthrie put the spotlight on the president’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis, his presence on Twitter, dislike of wearing masks and possible link to conspiracy group QAnon. The town hall served as a replacement for the shared town hall Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden were slated to have this week. Though he didn’t have his contender to combat against, many saw Guthrie’s hard-hitting challenges and questions as a surrogate for what a debate might’ve looked like between the two presidential nominees.
The presidential rivals responded to voters and town hall hosts from different cities and on different networks: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump opted not to participate in the shared presidential faceoff originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers said it would be held virtually following his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Trump’s town hall still brought a lot of contentious moments on the stage, with Guthrie pressing the president about a recent tweet about a theory that Biden orchestrated to have SEAL Team 6 killed to mask the “fake” death of Osama bin Laden.
“Why would you send a lie like that to your followers?” Guthrie asked him.
“I know nothing about it,” Trump said.
“You retweeted it,” Guthrie pointed out.
“That was a retweet, that was an opinion of somebody, and that was a retweet. I’ll put it out there; people can decide for themselves. I don’t take a position,” the president responded.
“I don’t get that,” Guthrie countered. “You’re the president — you’re not like someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever!”
Trump continued through the night of tough questions on his handling of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 217,000 lives in the United States, and even his debt that was revealed in a New York Times story. He insisted he didn’t owe any money to Russia or any “sinister people” and suggested that $400 million in debt was a “very, very small percentage” compared with his overall assets.
The display caught several people’s attention Thursday night. Those critical of Guthrie’s hosting performance included former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
While many conservative commentators and public figures panned the NBC town hall, there was just as much support for Guthrie pressing the president on certain topics and being “prepared & relentless” during the town hall, as Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig said Friday on Twitter.
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