Did NBC reporter get question prompt directly from Hillary’s spokesman?

Did NBC reporter get question prompt directly from Hillary’s spokesman?

Several videos making the rounds online purport to show Andrea Mitchell, NBC News veteran, receiving a question prompt from Hillary Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill, and then promptly delivering the question to Clinton.

The videos show a moment from the aftermath of Wednesday night’s third presidential debate, when Clinton briefly spoke with reporters aboard her campaign plane. As Clinton speaks, Merrill can be seen behind her typing on his phone, then showing the phone to Mitchell, who tilts her head upward in an apparent acknowledgment.

No words are exchanged between Merrill and Mitchell, and it’s impossible to tell what was actually on the phone. But a few seconds later, Clinton finishes speaking and allows Mitchell the opportunity to ask the next question. Which is the following softball.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

How did you feel when he [Trump] said, you know, ‘Nasty woman, nasty woman,’ and ‘You’re a puppet,’ and … the issue of Vladimir Putin?

While it is true that Trump did call Clinton a puppet, it was in response to Clinton’s calling him Putin’s puppet first.

In any case, Clinton used the question as an opportunity to attack Trump for failing to accept that Russia’s involvment in WikiLeaks, despite many intelligence agencies and experts saying that is the case.

Watch the whole incident from two different angles below.

https://youtu.be/KYfdc36HnHo

In the first of the two videos, Merrill can be seen apparently giving a “check your phone” gesture to somebody in the crowd in front of Clinton. It’s unclear if he is gesturing to a reporter, a Clinton campaign staffer, or someone else entirely.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to both Merrill and Mitchell. Mitchell responded with a strong denial of any impropriety.

“I was on live and couldn’t see in the crush of the gaggle – but no way would anyone try to give me a question,” Mitchell said. “That would never happen.”

No, of course not. And reporters would never ben caught dead rooting for one candidate over another.

This report, by Blake Neff, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

LU Staff

LU Staff

Promoting and defending liberty, as defined by the nation’s founders, requires both facts and philosophical thought, transcending all elements of our culture, from partisan politics to social issues, the workings of government, and entertainment and off-duty interests. Liberty Unyielding is committed to bringing together voices that will fuel the flame of liberty, with a dialogue that is lively and informative.

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