Conservative Media Figures Hated Trump’s Debate Performance

Written by Brendan Karet & Craig Harrington

Published

Prominent right-wing media figures slammed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s performance during the first presidential debate, calling it “an unmitigated disaster” and arguing that he “didn’t stand up to the test” of being President of the United States.

Right-Wing Media, Political Figures Slam Trump’s “Unmitigated Disaster” Of A Debate Performance

John Weaver, Republican Political Consultant: “The Last Two Thirds Of This Debate Has Been An Unmitigated Disaster For Trump.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

Stuart Stevens, Republican Political Consultant: “Trump Brought 20 Minutes Of Material To A 90 Minute Show.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

National Review’s David French: “It Was Like The SS Trump Hit The Iceberg, Then Backed Up And Hit It Again Just Because.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

The Federalist’s Tom Nichols: “Trump Decided He Wanted To Fight With Holt. That's A Rookie Candidate Mistake.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol: “Trump Lost It. He Choked.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

National Review’s Jim Geraghty: “Terrible Night For Donald Trump.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

Radio Host Charlie Sykes: “Watching Trump Surrogates Spin. They Know That He Did Poorly.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

CNN’s Mary Katharine Ham: “Trump's Strongest Moments Were At The Beginning … But Trump Boiled Over Later.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

WSJ’s Bret Stephens: “Debate Verdict: She Wins On Points.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

NY Post’s Podhoretz: Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway “Effectively Concedes Loss” To Fox News.

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro: “Hillary Hurt His Feelings About His Business Record And He Whined Like A Small Child And Rambled For 60.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]

Radio Host Steve Deace: “Trump Simply Couldn’t Carry A Credible Conversation With The Nation By Himself For 90 Minutes.”

This was a disaster. A complete and total disaster.

There was one, 15-minute segment when Trump was cleaning her clock on taxes, regulation, and being a career politician. Except he was badgering too much, but I could be wrong about how voters read that.

Then the topic turned to Trump's taxes.

From there, the debate ranged anywhere from embarrassing to disastrous for Trump. Other than crediting himself for the following:

--Not paying people the money he owed them “because of the laws” that don't make him do so.

--Forcing Obama to release his birth certificate because Hillary “couldn't get it done.”

--Forcing NATO to change a policy they've actually always had.

--Settling a racial discrimination lawsuit “with no admission of guilt.”

He even complimented Hillary's attack ads as “tremendous.”

In short, he was out of his depth, and it showed. As I warned for months, Trump simply couldn't carry a credible conversation with the nation by himself for 90 minutes, minus a full stage of others vying for air time. Plus, when he was stuck he had no lyin Teds, little Marcos, or low energy Jebs to riff off of as a funny diversionary tactic. There was no there, there.

[Facebook, 9/26/16]

Media Research Center’s Dan Joseph: “Trump Is STILL In The Spin Room Making A Bad Night Even Worse.”

[Twitter, 9/26/16]