#LaueringTheBar: Matt Lauer mauled over his performance at presidential forum

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer

The NBC News Commander-in-Chief Forum with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, moderated by Matt Lauer, was billed as the first joint candidate event of the general election and as a chance for viewers to see both White House hopefuls back-to-back on the same stage in primetime.

And while the reviews of the candidates were mixed, Lauer’s performance was pummeled by critics, who said the “Today” show host spent too much time on Clinton’s emails, cut her responses short, and lobbed Trump softball questions without challenging him on his past statements.

Here’s a sampling of the criticism:

One moment in particular seemed to showcase that Lauer was ill prepared to handle the forum.

When Trump falsely asserted, “I was totally against the war in Iraq,” Lauer did not challenge the claim despite the fact that Trump told Howard Stern the opposite in 2002.

Donald Trump and Matt Lauer at NBC Commander-in-Chief Forum at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
Donald Trump and Matt Lauer during Wednesday’s Commander-in-Chief Forum at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. (Heidi Gutman/NBC)

“You can look at Esquire magazine from 2004,” Trump told Lauer, citing an article in which he said he opposed the war at the time.

The war began in March 2003.

The skewering continued Thursday morning, when the hashtag #LaueringTheBar began trending on Twitter.

Lauer, for his part, seemed to acknowledge the criticism on Thursday morning.

“It was a nail biter,” he deadpanned at the top of the “Today” show. “But Serena Williams pulled it out.”

Not everyone at NBC is taking it lightly.

One network executive, speaking anonymously, told CNN’s Brian Stelter that it was a “disaster.”