Former FOX News anchor Shepard Smith laid into Donald Trump on the first night of his new CNBC newscast.
Said Smith: “Right now, on a brand-new newscast, we'd normally play the best sound and video from the debate, right? That's the lead, the back and forth from the president and the man that wants to replace him. And then we show and tell you what else we face as a nation. Cause there's a lot. That produced ‘open,' as we call it. About a minute. It's fast, there's music, it's compelling and rich with emotion, and that was our plan — that's what we'll usually do — but it turns out, in this moment, that's just the noise. You've heard it, and we need to cut through it.”
“Truth is there's never been such a thing as last night, Smith added. “That debate cannot be measured by traditional x's and o's, no matter how you vote.”
“Let's mark this moment,” Smith continued. “Last night the president called into question the heart of our democracy — the peaceful transition of power. Is there assurance that it'll happen? Asked to give it, the president declined, and openly sowed the seeds of distrust in the outcome. If there's no clear winner on election night, what's the process? What's the Constitution say? We'll report on that. … In the debate, the president told a group of white supremacists — some of whom stood by those in Charlottesville with their torches — to ‘stand back and stand by.' Joe Biden declared the duly elected president of the United States unfit to lead, called him a racist, a liar, a clown, and told him to shut up. We've never seen any of this. Not in America. But from this we march toward the vote, and tonight, we'll lay out the facts to the best of our ability in context and with perspective.”
