Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his team are upset that he was not asked more questions during CNN’s more than three-hours-long primary debate Wednesday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
“Gov. Walker had a lot to say last night, you could tell by the way he interjected to get his Wisconsin record and his plans into the debate,” Walker’s communications director Kirsten Kukowski told the Washington Examiner’s media desk Thursday morning. “Unfortunately, CNN had an agenda last night and it showed.”
Walker, who is ranked 10th in Washington Examiner‘s latest power rankings, joined with 10 other top-polling GOP candidates Wednesday evening to participate in a wide-ranging and lengthy primary debate. But Walker and his team are unhappy that the debate moderator, CNN’s Jake Tapper, had only two specific policy questions for the governor.
This doesn’t mean that Walker was shut out of the debate completely. Along with the two policy questions, and two additional “lighthearted” questions, Walker was given several opportunities to respond to his 2016 Republican competitors. He was also given space to interrupt the debate so as to explain his positions.
Still, the Wisconsin governor’s team is not at all happy with how things played out.
On policy, Walker was asked first to explain why he thinks raising the federal minimum wage is a “lame idea.” He was then asked to explain why he thinks the 3,000 noncombat U.S. troops currently in Iraq are a sufficient enough number to defeat the Islamic State.
There were two more questions for Walker, but they had nothing to do with process or policy.
The first was a “lighthearted” question about who Walker would like to replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, and the second question asked the governor to choose a handle to be used by the Secret Service.
“CNN had the longest debate in history and came in with a pre-set headline. It showed,” Kukowski told the Examiner. “Three hour debate. We were fourth on the stage.”
CNN likely gave more speaking time to flashier candidates, including real estate mogul Donald Trump and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, because the cable news network wanted to draw in viewers, Walker suggested Thursday morning in a radio interview.
“I think it was driven by ratings,” he said. “I think [CNN] wanted to get as many tit-for-tats in with Trump and that’s what they did.”
Combined, Trump, Fiorina and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were asked a total of 28 questions. The remaining eight GOP candidates combined were asked a total of 45 questions.
“I think it’s a disservice to the American people,” he said. “[Voters] want to hear where you stand on the issues. I mean, I would have loved to talk more about our plan … to get rid of Obamacare on day one and we actually got a plan.”
In the end, Walker scored very little speaking time – especially when compared to the candidates he claims CNN set out to “promote.”
And in a move that perhaps adds insult to injury for the Walker camp, CNN omitted the governor’s name Thursday morning from an infographic breaking down which candidates were given the most airtime during the debate.
“What is this, the silent treatment? Are they ignoring him, hoping he’ll go away?” National Review’s Jim Geraghty asked. “Maybe CNN was embarrassed that they gave him so little time.”
Walker’s campaign has struggled recently to find a foothold in the 2016 GOP primary, as his candidacy has faltered in the polls and failed to resonate with donors and voters. The Republican governor currently polls at just three percent, well behind Trump’s 30.5 percent and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson’s 20.5 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average.
CNN did not respond to a request for comment from the Examiner.
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This article has been updated to include additional information on the amount of time that Walker was given to speak Wednesday evening during the debate.
