Perkins on the First Debate

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council offers his perspective on the first Presidential Debate . . .

Last night was supposed to belong to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But the biggest story of the first debate wasn't the candidates answering the questions -- it was the person asking them. In one of the most talked-about plots of the first head-to-head, moderator Lester Holt seemed intent on making the debate a three-person affair -- injecting himself with almost as many challenges to Trump as the person officially opposing him. For most of the night, the Republican nominee was fending off not one -- but two -- attackers, repeatedly put on the defensive with topics that had nothing to do with the major issues facing America.

Meanwhile, the former Secretary of State, who's probably spent as much time under investigation by Congress as she did as a Member of it, skated by virtually unscathed by Holt's one-sided fact-checking. While he fiercely pressed Trump on his tax returns and concerns over President Obama's birthplace, he couldn't spare a single question on the corruption of the Clinton Foundation, her role in Benghazi, or the intentional deletion of tens of thousands of sensitive emails, or her outrageous "basket of deplorables" comment. Social media lit up with criticism for the NBC anchor, who many accused of shilling for the Clintons.

Holt's bias is difficult to argue when you consider that he interrupted Trump 41 times demanding clarification -- six times the amount he interrupted Clinton (seven). He "emerged as bruised and partisan," The Hill argued. "Holt entered the evening largely respected as non-partisan. He [exits] as the toast of left-leaning media..." Part of the problem was Holt's lack of focus. At a time when America is dealing with terror attacks on our own soil, a military in complete disarray, and a culture melting down before our very eyes, voters deserved to hear about more important things than Trump's tax returns.

Read the entire article here at the FRC.