Former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith delivered a grim prognosis on Wednesday of the first 2020 presidential debate during the premiere episode of his CNBC news program.
He opened his new show, The News with Shepherd Smith, by explaining that he would not be opening with footage from the Tuesday night debate because “that’s just the noise” on Wednesday night.
“Truth is, there’s never been such a thing as last night. A first official introduction of the two candidates from the committee on presidential debates follows rules. It’s dignified, democratic, structured, American — not last night,” Smith said. “That debate cannot be measured by traditional X’s and O’s, regardless of how you’ll vote.”
He then brought up the president’s hesitancy to say he would accept losing the presidential election and comments regarding the right-wing Proud Boys.
“Let’s mark this moment, last night the president called into question the heart of our democracy, the peaceful transition of power,” Smith added. “Is there assurance that it will happen? Asked to give it, the president declined and openly sowed the seeds of distrust on the outcome. If there’s no clear winner on Election Night, what’s the process? What’s the Constitution say? We’ll report on that, and our presidential historian will offer clarity, perspective. In the debate, the president told a group of white supremacists, some of whom stood by in Charlottesville with their torches to ‘stand back and stand by.'”
Smith also critiqued Joe Biden’s behavior during the fiery debate.
“Joe Biden declared the duly elected president of the United States unfit to lead, called him a racist, a liar, a clown, and told him to shut up,” he said. “We’ve never seen any of this, not in America, but from this, we march toward the vote, and tonight, we’ll lay out the facts to the best of our ability in context and with perspective.”
Smith left Fox News last fall after working there for roughly 23 years since the network’s inception in 1996. Smith began his television career a decade earlier at WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Smith was a longtime colleague of the debate moderator, Fox News Sunday‘s Chris Wallace, who described the debate as a missed opportunity.
Wallace told the New York Times that he “never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did,” and said he “didn’t realize — and there was no way you could, hindsight being 20/20 — that this was going to be the president’s strategy, not just for the beginning of the debate but the entire debate.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates released a statement on Wednesday saying it was considering “additional structure” in future debates to ensure a “more orderly” discussion between the candidates. Among the changes reportedly being considered is giving the moderator the ability to cut off a microphone.
The next two debates are scheduled for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22. A debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, is set for Oct. 7.
