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Gingrich: Wrong for NBC to Prohibit Audience Clapping at Debate
 Juan Williams and John King approve ... :-)Newt Gingrich has no interest in being a participant in another debate where the audience isnt allowed to audibly react. Were going to serve notice on future debates, Gingrich told Fox News this morning. Were just not going to allow that to happen. Thats wrong. The media doesnt control free speech. People ought to be allowed to applaud if they want to. He said he regretted that he had not protested when it was announced the audience was to be silent. I think he took them out of it, Gingrich said of NBC moderator Brian Williams, because the media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media, which is what theyve done in every debate.  UPDATE: I called up the Commission on Presidential Debates, which handles the general election debates, and they confirmed that audience participation has not been allowed in the past in debates, and will not be allowed this cycle either. So, if Gingrich is the GOP nominee, hell have to face a silent audience during his debates with the President unless the rules are changed. UPDATE II: Asked if the Gingrich campaign would ask the Commission to change the rule requiring the audience to be silent if Gingrich became the nominee, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond e-mails NRO, Yes, we would. If we have learned one thing it is [that] people, not the media-moderators, pick the winner. Posted by: gorb 2012-01-24 |
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