C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully has been suspended for lying when he said that his Twitter account had been hacked. Scully was supposed to moderate the second presidential debate before it got (prematurely) canceled over fears of Covid.
Meanwhile, dozens of Hollywood celebrities signed a letter criticizing NBC for hosting a Trump town hall event in lieu of the canceled second presidential debate, because it was scheduled for the exact same time as a Biden town hall event on ABC. (That’s what people in the television business call savvy counter-programming.)
Scully claimed he was hacked to cover for sending embarrassing tweet
Scully once served as an intern for Joe Biden and he previously worked for Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, so Republicans were already questioning his ability to serve as a neutral moderator when Trump attacked the C-SPAN host, calling him a “never Trumper.”
Scully then sent a public tweet to Trump critic Anthony Scaramucci asking if he should respond to Trump, which quickly generated more controversy.
Rather than owning up to it and apologizing for showing potential bias, Scully falsely claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. Problem is, he’s gone to that well before: it turns out he has a track record of claiming he was “hacked” after sending embarrassing tweets.
Scully later acknowledged he did, in fact, send the tweet, but he didn’t fess up before the Commission on Presidential debates referred the matter to the FBI so it could investigate the claim.
C-SPAN then indefinitely suspended Scully without pay. Joy Reid, however, is still on the air over at MSNBC, despite making dubious claims that she had been hacked to explain the existence of homophobic writing on her old blog.
RELATED: Joy Reid denied old homophobic blogs posts were written by her, claimed victim of hacking
Candidates hold dueling town hall events after second presidential debate canceled, celebs complain
The second presidential debate was supposed to be a town hall format where both candidates would answer questions from members of the audience, but the Commission on Presidential Debates unilaterally decided to cancel it, citing Coronavirus fears. Before canceling, the commission had proposed switching the format to make it a remote, virtual event, but the Trump campaign would not agree to change the previously agreed-upon rules.
With the officially sanctioned, joint town hall event canceled, Biden agreed to do a town hall on ABC moderated by former Clinton staffer George Stephanopoulos.
Trump, meanwhile, agreed to appear in a town hall moderated by NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
So to recap: the Presidential Commission on Debates deprived voters of the opportunity to see the candidates face off for a second time because it was supposedly too dangerous to hold an in-person event, which resulted in both candidates holding separate in-person town hall events, forcing viewers to choose which to watch.
RELATED: Mansplaining the vice presidential debate
Celebrities sign letter condemning NBC for ‘enabling’ Trump and demand cancellation
Hollywood celebrities were quick to criticize NBC for agreeing to hold the Trump town hall at the same time as Biden’s town hall event. Dozens of actors, including many who have had shows on NBC, signed a letter calling on the network to cancel the Trump event.
They wrote: “By agreeing to air his town hall as counter-programming opposite Vice President Biden’s town hall on ABC, you are enabling the President’s bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public.”
People who signed the list include: Directors J.J. Abrams and Josh Whedon; “Law & Order: SVU” stars Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni; “The West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin and many of the West Wing cast, including Richard Schiff, Joshua Malina, Dule Hill, and Mary McCormack (whose sister Bridget is a judge on the Michigan Supreme Court and currently up for re-election); “Parks and Rec” stars Adam Scott and Aubrey Plaza; “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin (who also currently plays Trump on Saturday Night Live); “Scrubs” star Donald Faison; “Will and Grace” star Debra Messing; “This is Us” stars Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia; Comedians Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Seth Rogen, Seth McFarlane, Kumail Nanjiani, Billy Eichner, and Amy Schumer (who is related to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer); movie actors Jon Hamm, Josh Gad, Mandy Moore, Julianne Moore, and Ben Stiller; “LOST” creator Dameon Lindelof.
Biden’s ABC appearance scored higher ratings than Trump’s appearance on three channels combined (NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC), which could portend trouble for the president. But Trump far surpassed Biden in online streaming views.
The final presidential debate is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22 starting at 9pm Eastern. It is set to be moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC.
READ MORE: Poll finds majority would watch presidential debate moderated by comedian Joe Rogan
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