US Elections: ‘You Are No One’s Crazy Uncle’ – Tensions Are High As Moderator Interrogates Trump

Donald Trump’s city council chairman has been savagely attacked by his supporters for repeatedly clashing with the president, but others have praised his hardline approach.

Live town hall events with Trump and Joe Biden were held in place of the second presidential debate.

The decision to hold two separate city councils was made after Trump refused to participate in a virtual presidential debate following his Covid-19 diagnosis.

Trump may be regretting saying no to a virtual debate after spending an hour of questioning with NBC moderator Savannah Guthrie, and tensions grew between the pair as the event progressed.

Outraged viewers criticized Guthrie as “hostile” and “an embarrassment”, claiming she was attacked by the president rather than moderating the event.

However, there were many who praised Guthrie for holding the president to account by asking him to answer their questions directly.

Guthrie began by questioning the president about his coronavirus symptoms when he last tested negative before receiving his positive result.

He then asked her about her response to the pandemic on a broader scale before shifting her line of questions to another contentious topic.

“We’re going to waste an entire show,” he snapped when she asked him about the retweets on his Twitter account, which contained QAnon conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated claims that Seal Team Six killed Osama bin Laden’s body double.

“You’re not somebody’s crazy uncle who can just retweet anything,” Guthrie told him as he pressed him on the subject.

Guthrie asked why Trump refused to denounce white supremacy when asked during the first presidential debate, and only did so two days later.

“Oh, you always do this,” Trump chimed in during the question.

“You know, you always do this. You’ve done this to me and everyone else – I denounced white supremacy, okay?”

“You did it two days later,” Guthrie said.

“I have denounced white supremacy for years. But you always do, you always start with the question,” the president said.

Trump complained that Joe Biden was not asked if he was reporting Antifa and claimed that another NBC reporter asked his rival questions “as if he were a child.”

“Are you listening? I denounced white supremacy. What’s your next question?” said the president.

But Guthrie refused to change the subject, saying at times he felt Trump “hesitant” to speak out against white supremacy.

The exchange between Trump and Guthrie continued like this for some time, and Guthrie also asked the president to expose QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory that suggests Democrats are a circle of satanic pedophiles.

The president repeatedly claimed that he was unaware of the theory, and Guthrie continually insisted that he was and asked him to publicly denounce it.

The Trump campaign issued a statement following the event claiming that the president “defeated NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in her role as opponent of the debate and stand-in for Joe Biden.”

“President Trump masterfully handled the Guthrie attacks and interacted warmly and effectively with the voters in the room,” the statement read.

Social media was flooded with comments after the debate, with opinions divided on Guthrie’s moderating style.

This is what some of its critics say:

And this is what his followers say: