Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein slammed NBC News on Thursday over their decision to host a town hall with President Donald Trump at the exact time as a previously scheduled town hall with Joe Biden on ABC.
“NBC News, one of the premier networks, has abrogated the public trust and -- for reasons that are absolutely inexplicable except commercial ones -- has allowed this presentation to go forward on this schedule, which serves the interests of one of the two candidates instead of the interest of the people of the United States,” Bernstein said during an appearance on CNN.
“I was the ABC bureau chief in Washington in 1980 and 81. And at the time, myself and the two other bureau chiefs from CBS and NBC established a rule that we would not take on our air events from the president of the United States -- Carter and then Reagan -- that had a sly political tinge. The idea was that we would not be manipulated by the president into giving airtime on the president's demands instead of journalistic principles.”
“And that precedent that we established back in 1980 with NBC News has now been abrogated by NBC News in such a way that they're going to be hurt by this. It is a shame, and they ought to take some actions over there and say, look, we're going to reschedule this thing even at this late hour. If Donald Trump walks and doesn't want to come on the air at a later time, then the hell with it,” Bernstein continued.
“But there is no journalistic reason whatsoever to undermine the interest of the people of the united states by favoring one candidate, which is what's happening here. This is really to enable Donald Trump to crow, oh, I got the better ratings and all the rest. This isn't about a rating contest. That's not what these debates and town halls are all about. NBC ought to be reconsidering their decision, even at this late hour because they have been conned and manipulated.”
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