Media Research Center President Brent Bozell bashed the networks for hiding Hillary Clinton in debates that almost no one is watching. Appearing on Varney and Company, Friday, to explain the practice, he quipped, “History shows us that the more you see of these Democrats, the less you like them. The more you see of Hillary Clinton, she showed that on her book tour, the less the public likes her.”
The next debate is this Saturday, just before Christmas and during the opening weekend of Star Wars. Bozell added, “The more you hear their agenda, the more out of step they are with the public. So, it is in their best interest to show themselves as little as possible.”
The MRC president went on to highlight the difference between the Democrats and the GOP: “The Republicans have had five debates so far. The Democrats have had only two and the one they’re having tomorrow night, no one is going to watch.”
A partial transcript is below:
Varney and Co.
12/18/15
11:02STUART VARNEY: The Democrat candidates preparing for another debate. This one is hidden, totally. They’re going to hold this debate tomorrow night, Saturday before Christmas. Brent Bozell, Media Research president, why are they hiding away on a Saturday before Christmas?
BRENT BOZELL: I think that it is smart. History shows us that the more you see of these Democrats, the less you like them. The more you see of Hillary Clinton, she showed that on her book to her, the less the public likes her. The more you hear their agenda, the more out of step they are with the public. So, it is in their best interest to show themselves as little as possible. But is it interesting, Stuart, that at the start of the campaign, all the talk was about how Republicans were having too many debates in they needed to cut back. The Republicans have had five debates so far. The Democrats have had only two and the one they’re having tomorrow night, no one is going to watch.
VARNEY: I think the idea is mistaken. Because all these debates with all these candidates on the Republican side, they’ve attracted an enormous audience. I mean, tens of millions people watching. All of these candidates have been introduced null to the entire country. We now know far more about Marco Rubio and all the rest of them than we ever did before. I think they are crowding out the Democrats. I think it’s a failed policy on the Democrats part. But maybe I’m wrong on this one, like a lot of things, Brent.
BOZELL: I just know that the more you see Hillary Clinton, the less you like her. That’s just a given fact. But look at the record so far. I mean, it’s fascinating. The Republican five debates have all been on cable. Cable supposedly has a much, much smaller audience than broadcast. But the reality is that nobody is going to watch a broadcast weekend debate. To put it in its proper perspective, this last CNN debate that the Republicans, CNN minuscule audience, got eighteen million viewers. The debate that the Democrats had on CBS on a Saturday night got eight million. So, it doesn’t matter the size of the network. It is when you place it and weekends on broadcast does not sell.
