Nutmegger

It is becoming increasingly difficult for the commentators to keep a straight face when such ludicrous things are issuing forth from the mouths of the "surrogates." They contradict themselves non-stop and have total double standards ("Trump did or did not do these things a decade ago so why are we talking about them" before launching into things B Clinton did two decades ago, but which are apparently fair game). I quite honestly don't know where the Trump campaign dredges up some of these women, but they have obviously been rigorously prepped that the answer to every single question must involve emails.

zargof

Nonsense, CNN has employed the likes of Jeffrey Lord and Corey Lewandowski to defend everything that Trump has done.

Philk

Journalist interviewing Trump supporters today - Hilary is going to ban Merry Christmas

morpeth

It was a debate and I was more interested in what Clinton or Trump had to say not Anderson Cooper. Of course Cooper biased against Trump based on what I have seen on CNN, but he does seem to try to be somewhat balanced compared to other CNN commentators.

Though it would not surprise me in the least that Trump has done what his accusers say.

SultanOfSwing

What the **** is wrong with these people? Ignoring the obvious fact that 'Merry Christmas' is categorically not going to become verboten, do they really think that's the hot button issue facing the US today?

Giantaxe

So you don't think that a moderator should pursue an answer to the question asked? It wasn't a very tricky question and Trump was very obviously evading answering it.

I'm sure Cooper isn't exactly a Trump fan, but that's not the point I was making.

morpeth

That they have Trump supporters on doesn't mean CNN has not been consistent in bringing up the areas you mentioned. There was one month they brought up several times in a day, maybe even every hour on some days, Trumps comments that you mention.

I do think that CNN having commentators like Jeffrey Lord on means many of the mini-debates between surrogates they show can be productive in presenting different points of view. One of reasons I stopped watching FOX.

As far as Lewandowski, I don't like to be unfair, but he does seem to be rather slow or limited in his intellectual capacity - is there something wrong with him ?

MMcD

"Poor Melania" ?
Rich Melania!

Right now, the Slovenian Sphynx is one of the most powerful women in America, if not the world....

If she were to slam the door on her sham of a marriage ( and how can she not after this: Attacked by Donald Trump - A PEOPLE Writer's Story ?),
she'd put a swift end to this grotesque nightmare.
And become a national treasure in her adopted country

And if she doesn't...at the least, she should make her so-called husband re-negotiate their pre-nup and take him to the cleaners.

Unfortunately... she'll probably do neither.

zargof

No, in the case of CNN, in their desperation for neutrality it all boils down to he said, she said, and until recently they never called out Trump's bullshit for what it was. That's also true with Clinton BTW. They always give too much weight to what campaign surrogates say.

morpeth

Fair enough. And quick thinking on Cooper's part to ask that question straight away.

I just would prefer that debates are between the two candidates, and that moderators ask questions and let the candidates respond to the question and each other. The follow up questions to me seem often inspired by bias or desire to score a point.

morpeth

While I think CNN is very biased towards Clinton, any effort to be neutral in at least one cable news channel is good in my opinion. I admit I am not impressed enough with CNN commentators to want their point of view.

Maybe USA too polarized, but I wonder sometimes if instead of just extremely partisan surrogates, CNN couldn't have more often people who aren't so tied to either campaign.

Giantaxe

I can't see how that would get very far. After all, in that exchange on Sunday, Trump attempted to parlay his answer into how he would defeat ISIS. Not exactly relevant to the question the moderator asked.

MMcD

Alas, Chris Wallace agrees with you.
So much for 'debate' number 3

MMcD

Parlay, Parlay, Parlay.....thank god....a Pivot from PIVOT

Wintersong

I think we can safely assume that Melania didn't marry him because she thought he was a wonderful, unselfish, caring, considerate individual