Savannah Guthrie Repeatedly Interrupts, Attempts to Mask Shame Donald Trump

Moderator Savannah Guthrie speaks during an NBC News Town Hall with President Donald Trump
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Kyle Morris

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie kicked off Thursday night’s town hall with President Donald Trump by attempting to mask shame him and moved forward with partisan questions that reflect the values of the Democrat party.

Guthrie’s remarks came after she pressed the president on whether he was tested for coronavirus on the day of the debate and questioned an event held at the White House where the majority of those in attendance were not wearing masks.

“I’m good with masks,” Trump said. “I’m OK with masks. I tell people wear masks.”

“You can see with a mask, though, right,” Guthrie asked Trump after he expressed his feelings on being able to “see people” as he claimed he cannot be kept away in a room.

“People with masks are catching it all the time,” Trump said in response. “If you look at the governor of Virginia, he was known for a mask. If you look at [Sen.] Thom Tillis [R-NC], a great guy, he always had a mask and they caught it.”

In an attempt to disrupt Trump’s message, Guthrie then brought up former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who said he was “wrong” not to wear a mask.

“He has to say that,” Trump said of Christie. “I think it’s great. He’s a friend of mine. He’s a good guy.”

“Wrong or not wrong, you have to understand. As president, I can’t be locked in a room someplace for the next year and just stay and do nothing,” Trump added, describing the scene when he attends events and meets with the families of America’s fallen war heroes.

Guthrie also took issue with Trump’s retweet of a “conspiracy theory” which claimed former Vice President Joe Biden “orchestrated to have Seal Team Six” killed to “cover up the fake death of Bin Laden.”

“You retweeted to your 87 million followers a conspiracy theory that Joe Biden orchestrated to have Seal Team Six, the Navy Seal Team Six, killed to cover up the fake death of Bin Laden,” Guthrie said to Trump. “Now why would you send a lie like that to your followers? You retweeted it.”

“That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody,” Trump responded. “I put it out there. People can decide for themselves.”

“I don’t get that,” Guthrie interjected. “You’re the president. You’re not, like, someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever.”

Guthrie’s performance drew immense criticism among high-profile conservatives and pundits on social media.

“Why is Savannah Guthrie being so nasty,” questioned Amy Kremer, one of the original Tea Party activists.

“They should rename this townhall and call it, ‘A National Townhall with Savantha Guthrie,'” wrote David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Brent Scher of the Washington Free Beacon wrote, “Just flipped to NBC and Savannah Guthrie is screaming.”

Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner questioned whether Guthrie could question Biden in the same manner. “Can Savannah please grill Biden next week,” he asked rhetorically in a tweet.

“Savannah Guthrie is an a**hole,” activist Terrence Williams wrote to his followers. “She’s hammering President Trump about a mask! Let it go and ask about policy.”

Conservative radio show host Wayne Dupree wrote: “This is supposed to be the #trumptownhall not the #SavannahGuthrie Invitational.”

“How terrible was Savannah Guthrie,” asked ACT for America founder Brigitte Gabriel.

Sean Davis, co-founder of the Federalist, said Guthrie went “full clown” in an attempt to pressure Trump.

“If Guthrie had been half as civilized and professional as the questioners — for example, asking a question and then politely listening to the answer without having a temper tantrum — that would’ve been a really illuminating debate,” Davis stated. “Instead, she went Full Clown and Trump stomped her.”

Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist also weighed in on Guthrie’s behavior.

“Savannah Guthrie has wasted 10 minutes on her personal obsession with people wearing masks and I would like her to move onto more interesting and more important topics,” Hemingway wrote.

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer claimed Guthrie was in “interrogation” mode.

“I just switched to NBC since ABC is in a commercial,” Fleischer wrote. “Savanah Guthrie has interrupted Trump in these 60 seconds more than Stephanopoulos has done to Biden in 40 mins. NBC is an interrogation. ABC is a picnic.”

Follow Kyle on Twitter @RealKyleMorris and Facebook.

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