CNBC’s Shepard Smith: ‘Last Night the President Called into Question the Heart of Our Democracy’

Anchor Shepard Smith criticized President Donald Trump’s debate performance on Wednesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “The News.”

Smith said, “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. 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 pan — 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.”

He continued, “Truth is there has never been such a thing as last night. A first official introduction of the two candidates from the committee on presidential debates follows rules, dignified, democratic, structured, American. Not last night. That debate cannot be measured by traditional x’s and o’s, regardless of how you’ll vote.”

He added, “Let’s mark this moment. 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.”

He concluded, “In the debate, the president told a group fo 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.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN