More than 14 million people tuned into CNBC on Wednesday night for the Republican Debate between Donald Trump and Ben Carson. The show received the highest ratings in the history of the news network. However, following the debate, CNBC was on the receiving end of humiliation and criticism over mismanagement of the entire event. Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, and the candidates expressed great concern and dissatisfaction regarding the focal point around which the questioning revolved, perceived bias and a lack of speaking time for both candidates. At the end of it all, an event which was supposed to be concerned about candidates primarily discussing their economic policies had instead started a Republican attack on the news media.
A meeting is being scheduled and arranged in Washington D.C on Sunday to plan ahead effectively and come up with strategies and ways on how to pressure both the R.N.C – which is being blamed due to incompetently and mismanaging the entire debate process and various networks to express their agitation regarding airtime, rules to moderators and the complete format. The Republican Committee has not been invited.
“This is not a cage match,” Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said. Reciting a list of questions he characterized as lacking relevance — “Ben Carson, can you do math?” — Mr. Cruz scolded the moderators, asking “How about talking about the substantive issues?”
Moreover, the reaction from most of the political observers was quite unpleasant as well. “CNBC is supposed to be a business, jobs and economy network, right?” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief and now the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. “The disconnect between the expectation and what you got was remarkable.” He called the entire debate and its handling by CNBC a “mess”.
A great deal of Iowa Republicans representing various diversified backgrounds of the State and belonging to different walks of life were interviewed after the debate. However, none of them seemed to be in favor of Donald Trump. It appears that the controversial candidate has not improved his chances to win their votes. A recent poll named The Des Moines Register also shows that that Mr. Trump is the second choice of only 9 percent of likely Republican voters, suggesting an upper limit to his support.
“At one point, I looked at my husband and said, ‘Is Trump still there?”, said Sue Smith, a stay-at-home mother of seven in Des Moines. “I don’t think he was a factor one way or the other. Early on, it was fun to have him in the mix because he stirred the pot, but as we get closer to Feb. 1, I’m not comfortable with him as my candidate.”
On the contrary, Mr.Carson, who has zero governing experience, is not considered to be ineligible by some people as according to them, if he surrounds himself with the right people he can surely lead from the front and set a great example. However, many people don’t agree to Carson’s credentials. For instance, John Opincar, who happens to be the chief executive of the University of Phoenix, thinks that Mr. Carson lacked depth regarding economic issues. “I was really taken aback,” Mr. Opincar, said. “It was a straightforward question, and he got the look of a deer in the headlights.”
However, it appears that Mr. Donald Trump has lost his lead in Iowa to retired neurosurgeon Sleepy, aka Ben Carson.
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