President Trump appeared in Sinclair Broadcast Group’s town hall that aired Wednesday night. The event’s taping took place Tuesday afternoon in the White House rose garden. Sinclair’s America This Week host Eric Bolling was tapped to lead the one-hour event.
Produced by Sinclair corporate news department, the town hall-style one-hour special featured questions from the audience, as well as an interview with the president. Just announced on Sunday, Sinclair Broadcast Group aired the special on the company’s CW and MYNET stations in 55 different markets across the United States.
“This election is one of the most important in modern history and voters are still looking for insight into the many issues that are impacting their daily lives,” Bolling said in a statement.
The town hall came on the heels of news from the event’s producers, Sinclair Broadcast Group, expressing that it would be discarding explanations in the latest “America This Week” segment that dismissed mask-wearing as a means to quiet COVID-19 amid a backlash about the remarks. A Sinclair Broadcast Group spokesperson told the Baltimore Sun that ‘Eric did not provide necessary context when providing commentary about the recent rise in new coronavirus cases.’
America This Week’s Special Report showed President Trump to be composed and assured, opposite Bolling as the moderator. President Trump answered a myriad of questions on a range of topics that Bolling chose to ask the President. Topics range from the third and final debate airing from Nashville later this week, Dr. Fauci and China, to issues concerning Hunter Biden.
Sound Bytes from Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Trump Town Hall
Bolling offered up a question regarding media censorship, asking the President, “Do you feel that Twitter and Facebook are cheating, or biased in this election?” The President quickly retorted, “100%. Frankly, this is turning out to be as big a story as the corruption itself. They (Twitter and Facebook) are trying to protect him (Democratic Nominee Joe Biden).”
Bolling then asked President Trump’s opinion of the current election cycle, “Censorship?” The President declared censorship was “at a level no one ever thought possible.” Bolling then inquired, “ Election interference?” Trump told Bolling that he was 100% certain of the fact that there is election interference.
On the country’s most pressing topic, the worsening coronavirus still infecting the nation, Eric Bolling asked the President, “With COVID, is there anything that you think you could have done differently, if you had a mulligan or a do-over on one aspect of the way you handled it, what would it be?”
Trump: “Not much…It’s all over the world… It came from China. China should have stopped it”
When asked by Bolling about his relationship with Dr. Anthony Fauci, physician, and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, President Trump offered Bolling his candid remarks about Fauci on 60 Minutes last Sunday, “He (Dr. Fauci) says he is stopped from going on television, but then you see him on 60 Minutes…where he said, ‘no masks, don’t wear a mask’ then he said, ‘wear masks.’ Bolling interrupted, “…but you called him a disaster…”
The President’s final thought on Dr. Fauci, “He’s made bad moves, but he’s been there a long time.”
President Trump also spoke to the huge problematic issue that the mask has seemed to become for many Americans. President Trump mentioned that there are many views, both scientific and social, about the mask and the reasoning behind wearing it in public. The President noted again, that even Dr. Fauci at one time had said to wear the mask, and at another that Americans didn’t need to wear them.
Following the Trump-Bolling interview portion on the Sinclair Broadcast Group-produced special, the President was asked questions from an audience that included Trump supporters, the portion of Americans who still need to hear more from the candidates prior to casting a ballot on November 3rd, and those supporting former Vice-President Joe Biden. Among the answers given, the President spoke to how he would help African Americans in his next term as well as HBCUs.
Bolling topped off Sinclair’s one-hour long event with a special appearance from former NFL Quarterback Brett Farve.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Extends Biden Similar Town Hall Offer
Sinclair Broadcast Group remarked on Friday that a comparable event had been offered to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “Vice President Biden has a standing, open invitation to join us whenever is most convenient for him, whether that be on ‘America This Week’ or in an interview with one of our many excellent stations as he has already done numerous times,” said Scott Livingston, Sinclair senior VP of news. “We have been in touch with his team and we are hopeful that we will be able to feature him and bring his policy positions directly to the voters in a similar fashion.”
The town hall was presented just one day before Trump and Biden square off Thursday night in their second and final debate of the election term in Nashville, Tennessee.
“America This Week” is an hour-long program featuring interviews with lawmakers, administration officials, and politicians with unique commentary on the issues that matter to Americans. The show also features news stories from stations around the country to give viewers reports on relevant events from right where they are happening. “America This Week” airs every week on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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