“I just don’t know about QAnon,” the president protested at one point, declining to criticize the fringe conspiracy group. “You do know!” Ms. Guthrie shot back, respectful but relentless.
At another moment, when Mr. Trump brandished a sheaf of papers to rebut a point — “I have things right here that will show you exactly the opposite!” — Ms. Guthrie revealed her own set of documents. “Me, too!” she retorted.
After 20 minutes of Ms. Guthrie’s grilling, Mr. Trump’s advisers appeared concerned. His communications director, Alyssa Farah, approached Ms. Guthrie during the first commercial break, and then joined three other aides gathered with the president onstage.
Even as Ms. Guthrie solicited questions from voters, she kept up the pressure, cajoling Mr. Trump into a sidelong acknowledgment of a New York Times report about his $400 million debt load, which he previously had refused to confirm. And she confronted him with a concern that even some of his allies share: “You’re the president,” Ms. Guthrie said. “You’re not someone’s crazy uncle who can retweet whatever.”
On ABC, the mood was different. Mr. Biden and Mr. Stephanopoulos engaged in a sober policy conversation more suited to a Sunday morning public-affairs broadcast.
Seated on a drab blue set, legs crossed, the men discussed the pandemic, taxes, the environment and the Supreme Court. When Mr. Stephanopoulos followed up on the effect of the coronavirus on the Democrat’s tax plans — “Mr. Vice President, let me press you on that” — Mr. Biden replied: “Absolutely. That’s a great question.” He went on to cite a study from the financial firm Moody’s.
Later, when Mr. Stephanopoulos nudged Mr. Biden to wrap up an answer, the candidate apologized. “Not at all,” Mr. Stephanopoulos responded politely.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/business/media/savannah-guthrie-trump-biden.html
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.