Chuck Todd: Trump Can’t Be ‘Overly Reserved’ During the Debate

Matt Lauer: ‘On Us’ to Cover ‘Substance’ Not ‘Sizzle’ of GOP Debate (NewsBusters)

In a rare acknowledgment of media responsibility, on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer declared that it was up to the press to properly cover the first Republican presidential debate: “...that idea of substance versus sizzle, one-liners versus issues. That's on us tomorrow as well. We’ve got to make sure that we cover what they talk about, the issues as opposed to those one-liners.”

The segment began by Lauer asking Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd: “If you're one of the ten primetime candidates tonight, do you have to come with some kind of a one-liner in your pocket that you're going to deliver no matter what you're asked, just to make the highlight reels tomorrow?”

Todd proceeded to lecture the GOP contenders: “I'll tell you, no. And I think if a candidate does do that, they risk sort of falling on their face and looking cliche-like....So I think these candidates need to be very careful not to try to be overly entertaining because then they may diminish themselves.”