CNBC took a beating on Wednesday night from start to finish for its Republican presidential debate.
CNBC anchors Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick and John Harwood served as the primary moderators, and they were the target of candidate jabs for much of the night. In the run-up to the main event, CNBC's analysts engaged in vamping that struck many as borderline nonsensical.
The interactions between the moderators and the candidates were contentious enough to draw an official statement from the Republican National Committee.
"While I was proud of our candidates and the way they handled tonight's debate, the performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and our voters," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement. "Our diverse field of talented and exceptionally qualified candidates did their best to share ideas for how to reinvigorate the economy and put Americans back to work despite deeply unfortunate questions from CNBC."
Priebus also let rip via Twitter.
CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled. #GOPDebate— Reince Priebus (@Reince) October 29, 2015
A CNBC spokesperson pushed back against critiques of the moderators. "Anybody who wants to be president of the United States should be able to answer tough questions," the spokesperson told Mashable in a statement.
CNN reported that there was a confrontation during the debate between a staffer for Jeb Bush and CNBC producers over how much airtime Bush had been receiving. Bush ended up talking the second-least of all the candidates.
The lead-up ended up lasting even longer than had been anticipated, as the debate did not start at 8 p.m. ET as had been scheduled.
Twitter had a field day watching the anchors who struggled to fill the airwaves.
every tv news network needs people who can seamlessly fill air time…. those talents are few and far between— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) October 29, 2015
I can't believe this fantastic @cnbc pre game is coming to an end— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) October 29, 2015
cnbc preshow illustrating why you don't hire tennis players to do color commentary on a football game— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) October 29, 2015
The debate itself was a relatively messy affair, with the moderators often being talked down by the candidates. Many of those on stage, particularly Ted Cruz, took the opportunity to take shots at CNBC's moderators and the media at large. The crowd at the event responded with support for those comments.
The crowd booed various questions, particularly one that was directed at Ben Carson about his relationship with a nutritional supplement company.
More boos for the CNBC moderators after question to @RealBenCarson. #CNBCGOPDebate— Dan Nowicki (@dannowicki) October 29, 2015
Crowd boos Quintanilla. Rough night for CNBC.— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) October 29, 2015
Second round of boos for #CNBC.— Megan Murphy (@meganmurp) October 29, 2015
Oops. Looks like CNBC is the big loser tonight.— WH PRESS SECRETARY (@weknowwhatsbest) October 29, 2015
Other journalists were also not particularly impressed with the moderators, particularly when candidates pushed back on assertions made in certain questions.
This is why u never ask a Q like this w/o having your source material at the ready. https://t.co/PsEzpesUhr— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 29, 2015
Best moments for all candidates--cruz, rubio, trump, christie--have involved slapping down moderators— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) October 29, 2015
I don't think any Republican candidate has been bad tonight. But the CNBC moderators are getting obliterated. What a rout.— Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) October 29, 2015
And everyone's favorite pharmaceutical CEO who jacked up the price of a drug weighed in, too.
Man, @CNBC just sitting here attacking the candidates. Kinda my experience with them too.— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 29, 2015
Donald Trump, himself no stranger to criticizing the media, used his closing statement to issue a parting shot at CNBC. Trump had previously said he would not debate for more than two hours despite what he claimed were CNBC's wishes. Harwood, one of the moderators, fired back that CNBC never wanted to make the debate longer than two hours.
It was a fitting end to a brutal night.