Trump calls first debate moderator a Democrat; records show otherwise

The format calls for six 15-minute time segments.

The first presidential debate, to be held next Monday, Sept. 26, at Hofstra University in NY, will be divided into three 30-minute segments on three topics, according to the Commission On Presidential Debates co-chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf.

Donald Trump took aim at the presidential debates as a “phony system” and said that Lester Holt, the moderator of his first match-up with Hillary Clinton, is a Democrat.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. NBC did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday about Holt’s party affiliation. It’s a very unfair system.

“I have respect for Lester”. He said on Fox News on Monday that Holt was a “professional” but that he was a Democrat, adding that the NBC News anchor may be under pressure after critics accused fellow NBC journalist Matt Lauer of giving Clinton tougher treatment than Trump during a recent forum on defense issues. It’s a phony system.

“By the way, Lester is a Democrat. It’s a very unfair system”, Trump said of the debate moderators.

The topics have already become a key focus in the campaign, with Clinton accusing Trump of promoting plans to abandon US allies in Europe and Trump trying to tie the rise of the Islamic State group in the Middle East to Clinton’s work as secretary of state. I think he’s very unfair on CNN. I don’t know what I’m going to do that exactly.

“I think for Hillary Clinton the challenge is: How does she expose the deficiencies in what he said or proposed without sounding pedantic?”

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