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Deadline, AP

Trump Lashes Out at the Upcoming TV Debates: ‘It’s a Phony System — They’re All Democrats’

Sep 19, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Donald Trump appeared to be managing expectations in advance of the upcoming presidential debates that will pit him against Hillary Clinton. Deadline.com reports that the GOP candidate accused debate organizers of “gaming the system” by having Democratic moderators in place.

Trump is quoted telling Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly: “What they are doing is they are gaming the system, like gaming the ref.”

He alluded to criticism received by Matt Lauer over a recent forum in which Lauer took heat for being hard on Clinton and going easy on Trump.

Said Trump: “They are also going after Lester [Holt]. They’re trying to intimidate Lester and I think the world is going to be watching that. … Lester is a professional, but we’ll see what happens.”

The first of three scheduled debates is set for Sept. 26, with NBC’s Holt moderating.

The AP notes that Trump has been especially harsh about CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who is also scheduled to moderate one of the upcoming debates.

“Trump last week had singled Cooper out for criticism, in an interview with The Washington Post,” the AP reports. “Trump has repeatedly tweeted criticism of CNN in general over the last few months.”

The AP quotes Trump telling The Post, in reference to Cooper: “He’ll be very biased, very biased. I don’t think he should be a moderator. I’ll participate, but I don’t think he should be a moderator. CNN is the Clinton News Network, and Anderson Cooper, I don’t think he can be fair.”

Deadline quotes Trump telling FNC’s O’Reilly: “By the way, Lester is a Democrat. It’s a phony system. They are all Democrats. It’s a very unfair system.”

10 Comments

  1. How can any intelligence US citizen vote for a clown like Trump. If we wanted Barnium & Bailey to run for president we would have nominated them……..holy shit, the republicans did.

  2. I think the question should be how can anyone vote for someone who has spent her life lying to the public? Crooked Hillary will continue her crooked ways and in so doing follow incompetent Obama in turning this once great nation into mush! So I will take my chances with Trump and opt for “real” overdue change!

  3. I think the question should be how can anyone vote for someone who has spent her life lying to the public? Crooked Hillary will continue her crooked ways and in so doing follow incompetent Obampa in turning this once great nation into mush! So I will take my chances with Trump and opt for “real” overdue change!

    • Take a long walk off a short peer, fella.

  4. I feel sorry for all those voting Trump…sheesh..

  5. This is the first step in Trump “pussy-ing out” of the debates.

  6. Trump is on a mission, he has a need. He’s desperately seeking a way to avoid these debates.

    In the meantime, let’s see those tax returns.

  7. The marching boots of Fascism always make the same sound. I can hear it now: “Trump..trump..trump..trump..trump…..”

  8. Remember how Trump was saying the Republican convention was going to be rigged to deny him the nomination? He’s doing the same thing with the debates. And he’ll then criticize the Electoral College for being rigged.

  9. That clowns above, so-called “Essdee,” to put it mildly, is an idiot. Anyone taken in by Trump’s vitriol and stupidity are beyond redemption. I agree with Wayne, Parker and the others who see through Trump’s misogynistic, race-baiting rants that hearken back to Sinclair Lewis’s prophetic 1934 book “It Can’t Happen Here.” The parallels are frightening. Trump is not only a crooked businessman, but one who only panders to the lower elements of our society, those who haven’t a clue as to what is right and what is wrong. If he should win, it would be disastrous for our nation.

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