Slate "It Took Savannah Guthrie 19 Minutes to Give Trump His Toughest Grilling in Years"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/savannah-guthrie-trump-town-hall-grilling.html

(This is a great read, esp for those - like me - that refuse to watch the orange asshole)

Rather than face former Vice President Joe Biden in a town hall debate on Thursday, President Donald Trump took questions from voters in a one-hour special on NBC. Before the Miami crowd got its turn, however, host Savannah Guthrie interviewed Trump directly, appearing to respond to criticism of the network’s decision to hand Trump air time by giving the president one of the most intense grillings of his four years in office.

Guthrie pressed the president on details related to his own experience with COVID-19, his baffling evasiveness when asked to condemn white supremacy, and the QAnon conspiracy theory, which Trump declined to condemn but did say, “I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard.” While Trump tried to fall back on his usual bluster, Guthrie was a cheerful but firm interviewer, returning again and again to the facts and details of Trump’s answers. As usual, Trump attempted to lie through the barrage of tough questions—and almost every time got pinned down by an interviewer who didn’t back off. At one point, after Guthrie parried one of Trump’s attempts to undermine a question’s premise, the president replied, “So cute.”

Quite a lot happened in 19 or so minutes! Let’s take it topic by topic.

COVID-19
Guthrie wasted no time in launching into Trump’s inconsistencies. After introducing herself, explaining the situation behind the competing presidential town halls, and wishing the first lady and their son good health, she asked Trump to explain his unusually intense medical treatment.

Trump responded that he “didn’t feel good” and that he had a temperature, and that “all I know is I felt good the following day.” Guthrie wasn’t satisfied with the answer. “Did the doctors ever tell you that they saw pneumonia on your lung scan?”

Trump: No, but they said the lungs are a little bit different, a little perhaps infected, and—

Guthrie: Infected with?

Trump: I don’t know. I didn’t do too much asking. I really felt good. I didn’t have much of a problem with the lungs. I did have a little bit of a temperature. Obviously I felt there was something missing. And then I tested, you know, I tested positive.

Guthrie then tried to pin Trump on the dates of his infection, a topic for which the White House’s explanations have shifted. “Your first positive test was Thursday, Oct. 1, OK? When was your last negative test? When did you last remember having a negative test?” Trump didn’t give a definitive answer, but thanks to Guthrie’s persistence he offered a bit more detail—and made a revealing obfuscation:



snip - LOTS more at the link

[Salviati]

1. A more thorough grilling then a trump steak.

Slather him in ketchup, he's done.

[flibbitygiblets]

4. Aptly worded!

Honestly I didn't have a hope in hell that Guthrie would do anything other than let trump get away with lying his assoff.

I think her ability to be pleasant but direct and firm really worked where others have not been as successful in holding his feet to the fire.

[CountMyVote4Reality]

20. THEN?

A more thorough grilling became a trump steak?

Perhaps it was a MORE thorough grilling THAN whatever.

Apologies from a grammar cop, but I hope you'll phrase better in the future.

[nutshell2002]

30. No worries, Salviati!

We all knew exactly what you meant. I find myself making simple typos when I text/type. Thank you for sharing your thought and have a great day!

[BigmanPigman]

2. Thanks for posting that!!!

I refuse to watch him too. I watched a bit of Cuomo on CNN and he said that Guthrie did a great job of not letting him off the hook, which too many reporters do. The transcript reinforced why I can't watch him. Just reading what he said has me super pissed off. This part was the winner (she asked him about saying he would have a peaceful transition of power if he loses)

Trump: "Savannah, I want it to be clean. I really feel we’re going to win. But I want this to be clean…. Peaceful transfer, I absolutely want that. But ideally I don’t want a transfer because I want to win."

That seems to say that if he loses than there will be no peaceful transition. We knew this is what he will do and finally got him to say it.

[CountMyVote4Reality]

19. IF this/THEN that

THAN is a comparison like more or less.

Sorry to go grammar cop, but nerve was already struck.

[Maru Kitteh]

21. Good catch on a very common mistake. We can all use

friendly helpful reminders in our writing. It helps us improve, imo.

[underpants]

3. Reading that I'm text, he sounds like an old demented fool

sitting on his porch with no one ever calling him on his wild ass stories and twisted reality of stories he’s heard and told a thousand times.

Trump: Why aren’t you asking me about antifa? Why aren’t you asking me about the radical left? Why aren’t you asking Joe Biden questions about—why doesn’t he condemn antifa? Why does he say it doesn’t exist?

[MFM008]

5. didnt watch

slept through it all.

[sheshe2]

6. Read the link.

Oh boy.

No words and I just need some sleep now.

[Shrike47]

7. The whole article is well worth reading.

[TheBlackAdder]

8. I'm in the hospital dying of some disease. I don't know what. I didn't do too much asking.

.

What bullshit.

.

[COL Mustard]

33. Syphilis

I didn't watch the town hall. I was too busy drinking...making good use of the time!

[PSPS]

9. I didn't watch, but I read the Slate piece. It looks like Guthrie did a very good job.

[COL Mustard]

34. You Know She Did,

Since all the righties are whining about it. Check out FR if you want some real cheesy whine!

[Lucinda]

10. KNR

[chriscan64]

11. Worth reading the whole article, plus no Trump's voice.

Another self inflicted wound for Trump who could have done another worthless rally and changed no minds at all. Lost a few votes if anything changed.

[Thekaspervote]

12. She deserves an Emmy for her performance!!

[UCmeNdc]

13. I did not watch it but the transcripts of it are killing Trump

Trump answers sounds like a crazy old man.

Trump sounds like he supports QAnon.

[Grokenstein]

14. You can tell she did well

just from the tweets from weeping arseholes shrieking about how she was "unfair" and it was an "ambush" and how he "dominated" her. You can bet he'll be hurling his bowl of num-nums from his Big Boy Chair all night long if he isn't drugged out of his gourd. ...I mean, more so than what was the pre-COVID norm.

[Cha]

15. KR.. Samantha Guthrie! TY!

[cwydro]

18. Her name is "Savannah."

[wnylib]

16. Good that she grilled him.

But in the end, Trump got what he wanted - attention diverted to him and away from Biden's own town hall.

In the morning and all day long, the media will focus on the things that Trump said and largely ignore the views that Biden expressed and the answers that he gave.

[burrowowl]

17. Kick for link

[DeminPennswoods]

22. Quote of the night

Guthrie: Just this week you retweeted to your 87 million followers a conspiracy theory that Joe Biden orchestrated to have S.E.A.L. Team 6 killed to cover up the fake death of Bin Laden. Now, why would you send a lie like that to your followers?

Trump: That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody. And that was a retweet. I’ll put it out there.

Guthrie: I don’t get that. You’re the president. You’re not someone’s crazy uncle who can retweet whatever.

Except he is that crazy uncle.

[Sunsky]

23. I don't care how well Guthrie did

I'm done with NBC except for a few hosts. She could have done her stellar job on another day or time.
Biden had one of his best performances. He elaborated on many key issues, yet some voters were not watching due to conflicting schedules. This election is crucial for minorities and I'm not here for NBC's political gamesmanship. Now, Savannah or Trump becomes the headline instead of Biden's great performance. We will soon hear comparisons of how many people watched Trump vs Biden. It should not have been this way.

[BobTheSubgenius]

24. The numbers of nasty women seem limitless.

I bet the WH did due diligence on SG and determined that she was reasonably benign, and the dolt thought his vastly superior intellect could manage both her and the situation.

Good thinking, you fucking imbecile. If you had even an inkling of how inadequate you are in just about every area, you'd be in a darkened room, weeping.

[UserNotFound]

25. Yep...

She was pretty tough on him, for a corporate media type...but I think I would have called him a fuckin' liar right off the bat.... Thanks for the link!!

[JohnnyRingo]

26. Worth reading in entirety.

I missed both events, figuring I could read about it later (now). I expected one of the programs to be a bit boring and the other to be off the rails crazy. Guess which one attracts more eyeballs.

Sounds like Guthrie just gave Trump a shovel and let him start digging.

[bucolic_frolic]

27. There will be platinum statues of Savannah Guthrie in decades to come

Wow is she going to get promotions!

[BlueLucy]

28. The men who have interviewed Trump have been chicken shit cowards.

I knew it would be a woman to finally get it done.

[Blue Owl]

29. BBQ'd Donny

n/t

[Justice]

31. When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong

Guthrie stood up to Trump and acted like a reporter.

I thought and said he’d talk all over her.

I was wrong.

[cp]

32. Whole article very good

Shows how Dumpy talks exactly like a mob boss, that is, in code with loads of deniability. Only now he's so addled that there is no plausibility about his denials.
Thank you, Savannah Guthrie, even though NBC stinks for giving him free air time.