On Monday night, Donald Trump, in media-attack mode, slammed NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who will moderate the first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton on September 26, for being a Democrat.
One problem: Holt has been a registered Republican since 2003, according to New York State voter registration documents.
Appearing with Bill O’Reilly on the O’Reilly Factor, the exchange went like this:
O’Reilly: The next debate, you have Martha Raddatz at ABC who I worked with in Boston. Brilliant journalist. But she is a Democrat. And then Anderson Cooper, I think he does a decent job over there but he is a Democrat. Okay? So, you have two Democrats. And are you showing up for that or what are you going to do?
Trump: And by the way, Lester is a Democrat.
O’Reilly: I didn’t know that.
Trump: Look, it’s a phony system. Lester is a Democrat. I mean, they are all Democrats. Okay? It’s a very unfair system.
NBC remained silent about Trump’s false assertion:
Holt replaced Brian Williams in February 2015 after Williams was suspended without pay for six months; in July 2015 he became the permanent NBC Nightly News anchor.
Ironically, Chris Wallace, who works at right-leaning Fox News and will moderate the third debate, has been a registered Democrat for years; he has explained away his registration by claiming it was simply because he lives in Democrat-dominated Washington, D.C.