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Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow took over as moderators of the first Democratic debate, only to be treated to an audio snafu, perhaps from the control room.
It took President Donald Trump about two seconds (slight exaggeration only) to tweet this: “@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate. Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS Organization, which they are!”
That came after this succinct tweet from the president.
However, Twitter users also had a field day with the audio problems.
At first Todd patiently tried to wait it out, but when the audio problems continued, he went to an unexpected commercial break. The Democratic debate on June 26, 2019 featured 10 of 20 candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination. Another 10 candidates will take the stage on Thursday, June 27.
At first the debate went smoothly, with vigorous arguments about the economy, immigration, healthcare, and other standard topics. Enter Maddow and Todd, who tried to redirect the conversation toward Parkland, Florida and gun control issues.
“We believe we have the technical difficulties fixed… we will march forward here,” said Todd after the unplanned commercial break. “Never say that,” joked Maddow, but the issues did seem fixed.
Here’s what you need to know:
Jokes on Twitter Ensued Quickly
It didn’t take long for the jokes to fly on Twitter. Among them:
“CONTROOOOOOOL ROOOM! #DemDebate.”
“technical issues just make this debate look like even more of a confusing sh*t show omg.”
“I can’t wait for the SNL skit.”
“Somebody’s getting fired! Get it together, audio!!”
“Oops. Someone in the control room is going to be looking for a new job tomorrow.”
“Unemployment will go up when they fire the audio guy. And that’s under the Trump Administration.”