Waste of time...

Liberals lash out at Lauer, NBC 

By Cristiano Lima

Democrats and Hillary Clinton allies are less than thrilled with Wednesday's Commander-In-Chief Forum, hosted by Matt Lauer on NBC.

At an event that saw both Clinton and conservative challenger Donald Trump challenged on their stances toward national defense and foreign policy, liberal operatives and Clinton supporters took exception to what they perceived as unbalanced questions, criticizing Lauer for failing to push back on false statements by Trump and for spending a significant amount of time on Clinton's email scandal.

During the forum, reporters openly fact-checked Trump's false claim that he supported the decision to go into Iraq prior to the invasion, an argument he has repeatedly made on the campaign trail. Liberal figures pounced on the omission, ripping NBC for devoting so much time to Clinton's controversies instead.

Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon criticized the forum for letting lies by Trump go "unchecked."

Correct the Record executive director Isaac Wright blasted NBC for fact-checking Trump's Iraq claim online but not during the forum.

ThinkProgress editor Judd Legum rated Lauer's assessment of the evening as a "success" as a "pants on fire" lie.

CNN pundit and pro-Clinton super-PAC adviser Paul Begala quipped that Lauer's interest in Trump's past controversial statements might have been higher had they been sent in email form.

Matthew Gertz, research director for the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters, criticized the forum for not focusing on policy, adding, "Maybe if Matt Lauer hadn't spent 13 minutes on emails there'd be more time for ISIS."

Priorities USA co-director Guy Cecil called NBC's fixation with the Clinton email controversy a "waste of time."