Criticism of CNBC and its debate moderators took up Thursday morning where it left off Wednesday night, with candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasting the network for its questioning. CNBC countered that candidates ought to be able to take tough questions.
In an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe (MSNBC is co-owned with CNBC), Christie said, "First of all, the moderators just didn't do their job last night in a number of areas," adding, "Not only were the questions snarky and divisive and non-substantive, they were just biased," he told host Joe Scarborough. "But on top of that, they didn't do their job in terms of controlling the debate, either. And it became somewhat of a free-for-all that everybody had to jump in when you could jump in."
At one point during the debate, Christie had said to moderator John Harwood: "Even in New Jersey what you are doing is called rude."
"People who want to be President of the United States should be able to answer tough questions," said a spokesperson for the network about the general complaints from the candidates.
The "liberal media" in general and CNBC in particular became part of the GOP Debate when numerous candidates including Christie, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio criticized the questions asked, the tone of those questions, and suggested it was the liberal media piling on Republicans.
