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How Matt Lauer Was ‘Hung Out to Dry’ by His Bosses at NBC

Sep 16, 2016  •  Post A Comment

NBC fixture Matt Lauer has been the focus of a torrent of criticism over what his detractors say was a feeble performance during a high-profile interview forum featuring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“Lauer was criticized by Clinton supporters for grilling the candidate on her email scandal and rushing the Democrat through answers on other topics, and for being too deferential to Trump,” The New York Post’s Page Six reports. “In a fundraising letter a day later, Clinton’s camp even mentioned that Lauer ‘fell flat.’”

But the report cites sources saying Lauer was “hung out to dry” by NBC executives over the forum.

A source told the publication that Andrew Lack, the NBC News and MSNBC chairman, was the one calling the shots.

“The source said Lack was controlling the interview, including the decision to move Clinton along during certain questions and to linger on the emails,” The Post reports.

The report adds that as Lauer was under fire in the aftermath of the forum, Lack sent around a memo to staffers praising the effort.

The Post quotes Lack saying in the memo: “We were able to bring the two presidential nominees together for the first time and presented an important examination of what each would bring to the role of commander in chief. My deepest thanks to everyone who helped pull off this remarkable achievement.”

Said one source: “Andy Lack was trying to cover his butt, too. Apparently, he got heat for pushing the email questions.”

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24 Comments

  1. I have not, am not, and will not vote for Clinton in any election.
    She would be, imo, a horrible president.
    That said, Lauer was hung out to dry by his own miserable performance.
    He deserved no support from NBC.
    If I were his boss he’d have been fired or be on a serious tightrope.
    I do believe that it was Lack who put out a statement supporting him shortly after the storm hit.

    • And a vote for Trump is a vote for Putin.

      • This makes a lot of sense ! DUH!!!!!

    • I don’t think you understand. We now know that Lauer did not act as he did on his own. He was being controlled through an earpiece, moment by moment throughout the show, by the head of the network, someone called Andrew Lack.

      So it was not Lauer’s fault at all — he was under constant direction by the big boss every moment.

      • You “know” this? Because some “source” said that Lack was controlling the interview? You would probably be much better served by assuming that around 99% of what you read on the internet is pure, unadulterated manure.

  2. The whole hour was “deplorable”. If it was indeed Lack who was giving those email questions to Lauer for Hillary and the softballs for Trump, he should be hung out to dry as the person who showed Americans that there is no longer real journalism left at NBC.

    • This is a perfect example of the hidden role of producers and bosses in propping up the festering body that US television has come to be. No, wait, it has always been this bad, but over the decades our TV has learned to put its worst foot forward. Now the rot is visible to anyone who cares to look, just as the practice of buying American elections has become the most public ritual in the world. Can a system of government so damaged, so completely corrupted survive? I don’t see how.

  3. I admit I am partisan, but there is a very deep core belief I have held since I was a younger man that reminds me over and over again that towels are to be hung out and dried. We do not and should not afford the same treatment to other non-towel materials that, while similar to towels, lack the reciprocal relationship that a good towel can provide. Materials like blankets, shawls, large napkins, and table cloths. Now, I would extend consideration to our venerable friend the beach towel, whose seaside contributions are too immeasurable to articulate.

    • First, I apologize if you find this reply disagreeable, but your post has angered me. My first thought was “Are you serious!”, but after I calmed down I decided the best way to deal with your comment was with a question. How can you categorize blankets with shawls, large napkins, and table cloths? The relationship between blankets and ourselves is much more intimate and meaningful, that those of towels. Blankets, unlike towels, are there to keep us warm when we are cold, comfort us when we are ill, and share our dreams during the night. As children, many of us held on to them, no matter where we went, in order to feel safe. As adults they are there to witness some of our most intimate moments.

      Of all the items you mention, none is more deserving than the blanket, to be hung out under the glorious sun and sky.

      • RS, you bleeding heart blanket people are all the same. Yes a blanket may provide much needed warmth in the cold night. However, towels are what made this country great and will continue to for years to come. Blankets are what were used to give small pox to the Indians, blankets are what possessed Michael Jackson to give his child an awful name. Towels on the other hand, have never failed us. They keep our nation dry after bathing. Cleanliness is godliness. God Bless Towels and God Bless America 2016!

  4. Matt Lauer is no choir boy. Just ask Ann Curry.

  5. This interview was yet another bad chapter straight from the election campaign that I predict will go down in history under the name of The Crazy Train of Whack-A-Doo. It seems that whenever there is a question about loony farm candidates who really have no business being in an election to start with, the alcohol pickle-brains of the news media seem to arrive at this mysterious idea that military men wearing funny hats are going to be the chosen ones to convince the rest of America that both candidates are valid and worth a serious look. They are not. This entire program idea by Matt Lauer ended up casting the more stupid side of our nations veterans as a very bad misinformed joke. This wonky interview to nowhere made me groan, roll my eyes to the ceiling, and squirm in my chair. It’s time for the news media to let go of the men in funny hats because that is Old School, and in these modern times, us veterans do not answer to that anymore. We can barely find a military veteran in Congress who has a rational brain so the funny hats are no validation at all about candidates. Clinton and Trump are both GROANERS so leave the military veterans out of it. We have but one collective message coming out of our national veterans community right now, (not that it was portrayed at all on this program): “We are NOT amused!!!!!” Write it down please, and make a little note.

  6. The very idea that NBC would use the host of a morning gossip show to run any sort of debate for the most important job in the world says a lot about their respect for America.

  7. What was the role of Halle Jackson in all of this? As I watched, she was the one conducting who would be asking what question. I believe that she knew what she was doing with that first sneaky question about e-mail. Most of the media seems to be ignorant of how sensitive information is marked. I think that those who know better realize that the letter c in parenthesis means zilch, unless you want to play the ignorant public.

  8. Matt Lauer is a tool for NBC and always has been. From Ann Curry to the present he has shown he is not a true newsman. He is the ” Sarah Palin ” of male newscasters.. It is obvious that he or someone higher at NBC received a ” Koch Brothers ” supplement to control the Clinton questions and answers, but let the ” idiot in Orange” slide through softball questions.

  9. It is a sad day for American when the people realize that the media is not free
    that it bought an paid for by big momey. I hope that PBS has not suffered the same fate.
    First its bad enough that we have two of the most disliked candidates in history
    and that we have next to nothing of a choice of having any one with any character
    getting to be President.When you go to vote ti will be: Which candidate do you find
    the least dispicable? This country likes to peddle patrioism, but its lost e long ago
    on that.. I am with those that refuse to stand for the Pledge>

  10. Laruer is just another media hack in a long long line of hacks.

  11. Matt Lauer’s dismal performance, whether orchestrated or not, is a great example of what has happened to NBC and MSNBC REAL news,i.e., with a few exceptions like Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes, it’s dead. I was appalled at the insulting, demeaning manner in which Lauer treated HRC. I’m willing to bet that only her extreme professionalism kept her from walking offstage. He certainly proved to the viewing world that he is not ready for prime time news and by this point in his career, it doesn’t look he ever will be. He obviously needs to stick to Today Food segments and interviewing Kardashians. Actually, Chuck Todd, Mark Halperin, Chris Mathews, Andrea Mitchell, Kristen Welker, David Brooks, Chis Cillizza, etc., etc., etal, are only a couple of steps above Lauer when it comes to the way in which they allow Donald Trump to control the conversation and the amount of time they devout to him and his minions vs the meager amount of exposure they give HRC. It stinks and if Trump gets into the White House, this press, as well as the rest of prime time, The NYTimes and many other media outlets bear at least some of the responsibility. I don’t know what’s happened to REAL journalism, but it certainly isn’t very evident in this election campaign.

  12. The media has totally capitulated to Trump. There are many angles for review that are not being explored adequately. Donald Trump has been in the media for years, so there is evidence in his own words. Please flush out the stories. Start with his advocating for death penalties to innocent black men in New York, illegal employees, marital rape, mafia connections, Soviet investments, land deals, money laundering, and the myriad of sexist and racist comments. Please find his tax returns! HRC gets grilled repeatedly; Trump tells another lie and get media coverage like it’s truth. There is a double standard that will inevitably harm the American people. Imagine if Michelle Obama or Hillary had posed nude while working on an illegal visa. Imagine the outrage! Fairness in the media would really help!

  13. So much for an “independent press”. This “news station” should be ashamed of itself and Lack should be fired

  14. Trump –Last chance for the original America

  15. I can’t vote for the Nationalist Party nominee Trump. His bigotry, racism and ignorance has done nothing but make our already great country, the laughing stock of the world.
    I’ll vote for Hillary

  16. As supposedly a journalist… why didn’t Lauer refuse to be part of this interview if he was been directed by Lack or anyone else? Unless, of course, Lauer was ok with the strategy which, in that case, makes him a willing participant and an accomplice….

  17. My goodness…listen to the whining, wailing and grinding of teeth by the left wingers on here. Obviously, they are too blind to see the blatant partisanship of nearly every media for “progressive principals.” Poor, poor Hillary got grilled about her emails. REALLY?? This is no “minor scandal” that should be brushed aside. It’s the single biggest breach of national security in the history of the nation. Add her blatant lies about the cause of the terror attack in Benghazi on top of all her other prevarications and we have the sad, sad display of “progressive angst.”

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