Jace Brady
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Fox News held a Republican primary debate in Detroit last week. This venue proved to be the perfect location for the shameful performance provided by Fox News moderators and several Republican candidates.
Detroit was once the capital of American manufacturing and innovation. It boasted the highest per capita income in the country, and its proud citizens reflected the American dream at its finest. Now, it is a crumbling city on the verge of collapse. Whole neighborhoods have been deserted, and the population has been decimated. The Grand Old Party demonstrated that is has suffered destruction akin to Detroit’s.
Lit by the scenery of Detroit’s crumbling infrastructure, the party of Lincoln and Reagan was embarrassed by Marco Rubio’s and Donald Trump’s mudslinging and by moderators who threw all journalistic standards out in attempt to bolster the image of their ordained candidate.
As a writer who has made his disdain for Trump quite obvious over the last several weeks, I couldn’t help but pity the Republican front-runner during the March 3 debate. Fox News has made no secret that Sen. Marco Rubio is its candidate of choice. However, because Rubio has suffered in the primary season, Fox News took it upon itself to sacrifice the role of moderator and joined the debate as Rubio’s attack dog.
Every assertion Trump made was quickly parried with an onscreen rebuttal. The moderators chose to call Trump a liar every time he answered one of their questions with numbers. While I am not refuting the accuracy of Fox News numbers or accepting Trump’s, when you are making calculations of this nature, estimates can be off by billions of dollars. Regardless of whose facts were correct, the role of moderator is to ask questions, pose follow-up questions, and ensure that participants follow the rules. Critically attacking candidates’ claims in an attempt to reshape the debate is certainly outside a moderator’s job description; at least, that is how Fox News felt after CNN’s Candy Crowley made a minor fact-checking offense in 2012, when Mitt Romney was the nominee.
Of course, the moderators were not the only travesty that occurred during the debate. Rubio and Trump went blow for blow in a mudslinging match for the ages. Somehow, the adage of sticks and stones no longer applied, as everything right up to penis size was up for discussion. The childish antics of these two were an embarrassment to the party and will hurt whoever the eventual nominee is in the general election. While Rubio’s attempt to stand up to the bully Trump is commendable, his method of lowering himself to Trump rather than opposing his behaviors from a higher plane will likely backfire.
March 3 was a devastating blow to the Republican Party and to Fox News. The candidates and moderators seemed determined to bring Trump down, even if it meant burning everything else to the ground as well. The once-great party seems destined to suffer a collapse just like the one experienced by its host city of Detroit.
Republican voters have obviously determined they will no longer allow the Republican establishment to force its nominees down their throats and are ready for a new Republican Party. While it is ugly to watch, perhaps Fox News, and Rubio’s efforts to burn the party to the ground will pay eventual dividend to the party’s disaffected voters. Perhaps from the ashes, we can build something better.