The early Wednesday morning edition of ABC’s Nightline provided the first look at the network reaction to Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate and featured correspondent David Wright ripping it as a “bloody” affair with help from liberal comedians and scolding Chris Christie for remarks about Los Angeles mothers placing their children on school buses only to have classes canceled due to a terror threat.
Right off the bat in the seven-minute-and-17-second wrap-up, Wright declared: “The Las Vegas strip hosts plenty of prize fights but tonight at The Venetian, this one was big even by Vegas standards and bloody, even if most of the prize fighters wore dark suits, red tie, and a flag pin.”
A few minutes later after clips of Donald Trump clashing with Jeb Bush and analysis from ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, Wright strangely turned to the scene at Q.E.D. Café in Queens as “comedians...weigh[ed] in realtime on the action” and played soundbites of comedians Frank Conniff, Myka Fox, and Christian Finnegan all taking shots at the candiates.
Speaking of the Cruz vs. Rubio bouts, Wright spun it as part of “the field jockeying into position themselves as the reasonable alternative” to “[t]he turmoil up top.” Following a short soundbite from one of the exchanges, the liberal journalist determined that “[t]heir conflict sound[ed] at times like a vice presidential debate, auditioning for the second spot on Trump's ticket.”
As this writer observed on social media during the debate, Wright parroted the argument of some liberals that Republican Governor Chris Christie (N.J.) was being sexist for suggesting that mothers in Los Angeles placed their children on school buses while fathers drove to work concerned for their safety (in the wake of the terror scare Tuesday):
WRIGHT: Governor Chris Christie painted himself as a seasoned executive but he may not have helped himself with women voters with an analysis of today's terror scare in L.A. that sounded straight out of Father Knows Best.
CHRISTIE: Think about the mothers who will take those children tomorrow morning to the bus stop wondering whether their children will arrive back on that bus safe and sound. Think about the fathers of Los Angeles who tomorrow will head off to work and wonder about the safety of their wives and their children.
Wright closed by returning to the Queens comedy club and touting how “voters...aren’t sold” on any of the candidates with one patron complaining: “I really couldn't pick a winner. I — they lost me halfway through.”
Following the last GOP debate, Wright gave the summary on November 11's Nightline and painted the Milwaukee forum hosted by the Fox Business Network (FBN) as “a reality show where the stakes couldn't be higher.”
With ABC hosting the third Democratic debate on Saturday, it’s a safe bet that the network won’t be using such belittling language to describe their own event.
The relevant portions of the transcript from ABC’s Nightline in the early hours of December 16 can be found below.
ABC’s Nightline
December 16, 2015
12:40 a.m. Eastern
DAVID WRIGHT: The Las Vegas strip hosts plenty of prize fights but tonight at The Venetian, this one was big even by Vegas standards and bloody, eve if most of the prize fighters wore dark suits, red tie, and a flag pin.
(.....)
WRIGHT: The ratings of these debates have rivaled prime time TV shows and sporting events.
CHRISTIAN FINNEGAN: I think we've run out of red ties in the Las Vegas area.
WRIGHT: Tonight in Queens, the Q.E.D. Cafe had it on big screens.
MYKA FOX: You learned your lesson you old man?
FRANK CONNIFF: You go to your room and think about what you did, Marco.
WRIGHT: Comedians and commentators weighing in realtime on the action.
FOX: Wasn’t Jeb start looking like when George won the presidency and he realized he was never going to be as good?
FINNEGAN: It's almost like watching WWE at this point. I think that's the appeal of Donald Trump, is that it's like watching macho man Randy Savage with, you know, even worse hair.
WRIGHT: Throughout the campaign, Trump's fiery rhetoric hasn't exactly hurt him. Quite the contrary, but Senator Ted Cruz has been gaining ground. Several recent polls show him slightly ahead of trump in Iowa. Until now, the two have mostly abided by a mutual non-aggression pact.
(....)
WRIGHT: The turmoil up top has left the rest of the field jockeying into position themselves as the reasonable alternative. Tonight, Senator Marco Rubio tangled with Ted Cruz over immigration.
REPUBLICAN SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (Fl.): Does Ted Cruz rule out ever legalizing people that are in this country illegally now?
BASH: Senator Cruz?
RUBIO: Do you rule it out?
CRUZ: I have never supported legalization and I do not intend to support legalization.
WRIGHT: Their conflict, sounding at times like a vice presidential debate, auditioning for the second spot on Trump's ticket.
(....)
WRIGHT: Governor Chris Christie painted himself as a seasoned executive but he may not have helped himself with women voters with an analysis of today's terror scare in L.A. that sounded straight out of Father Knows Best.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (N.J.): Think about the mothers who will take those children tomorrow morning to the bus stop wondering whether their children will arrive back on that bus safe and sound. Think about the fathers of Los Angeles who tomorrow will head off to work and wonder about the safety of their wives and their children.
(....)
WRIGHT: Voters at the Q.E.D. screening party tonight aren't sold.
UNIDENTIFIED Q.E.D. CAFÉ PATRON: I really couldn't pick a winner. I — they lost me halfway through.
