The CNBC GOP Debate on Tuesday night has resulted in a flood of criticisms, as they usually do. Though this time around, the majority of criticisms and responses do not go out towards the candidates, but rather the CNBC moderators. Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick, and John Harwood oversaw the debate this week, and Fox news reporting on the debate's winners and losers claimed that "on several sites aggregating Twitter reaction, the moderators were declared the losers, 'hands down.'"

If there is one thing politics does not need more of, it is drama. Candidates for years have gotten up on the debate stands to fight it out. Some of the colorful outbursts from Donald Trump this primary season are no exception to that rule. Given candidate’s tendencies to fight, get personal, and get messy, moderators must be there to calm things down. Though they drive the debate with their questions, they are expected to do so in a way that promotes meaningful and informative discussion. They must be the ones to stand up above TV politics, and this week, they did not rise to this occasion.

cnbc.com

What do I mean by TV politics? By this I mean the dramatization of discussion and debate that occurs as soon as politicians step in front of the camera. The whole point of debates are to inform the public on where politicians stand so that they can make educated voting decisions. But, the politicians, moderators, and TV stations seem to think that Americans are unable to listen and follow a debate if it is not as drama-ridden as their favorite weeknight NBC crime series. Therefore, they point fingers and speak rudely. While some of this just comes with politics, there is a line that is often crossed in debates. And for the third GOP debate, Quintanilla, Quick, and Harwood were performing for the cameras as much as the politicians, actions that seemed more motivated by getting good TV ratings than by informing the public.

Moderators accused Trump of running a “comic book campaign” and challenged other candidates to specifically question Trump’s “moral authority.” They called Sen. Mark Rubio a “young man in a hurry” essentially criticizing him for his lack of experience in the senate. They asked Ben Carson if he “could do math.” And if John Kasich would “insult to people over here.”

When they asked Sen. Ted Cruz if his policy plans indicated that he was not “the kind of problem solver that American voters want,” he had at them for all the terribly moderated questions.

All of these questions were loaded personal questions, personally attacking candidates who already take enough fire from one another. Their questions were biased, attempting to shape viewers’ conceptions of the candidates when during the debate those views should only be shaped by the candidates’ statements.

Not only were the questions dramatic and uncalled for, but Quintanilla, Quick, and Harwood brought up very irrelevant topics, taking up the TV time of much more important national issues.

politico.com

When the moderators asked the ridiculously unimportant (but high-TV interest) question about Draft Kings and other fantasy football leagues whose legitimacy as non-gambling sites is being questioned, Gov. Chris Christie finally spoke out and had to put moderators, and Sen. Jeb Bush who began response to the question in their place.

Christie asked Hardwood, “Are we really talking about getting the government involved in fantasy football? We have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and Al Qaeda attacking us and we’re talking about fantasy football? Can we stop? How about this? How about we get the government to do what they’re supposed to be doing. Secure our borders, protect our people and support American values and American families. Enough on fantasy football. People play, who cares?”

I found the moderators to be insulting to the intelligence of the American public during this spectacle. It is like they thought we would not care if they did not give us a show. The lack of faith in and respect for viewers and the candidates was so disheartening, and showed audiences that CNBC was putting TV ratings ahead of the interest of the American public.

"While I was proud of our candidates and the way they handled tonight’s debate, the performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement reported by FOX News, accurately summing up the disastrous, disheartening TV behavior of the moderators that night.

Quote Sources from FoxNews article, "CNBC moderators get bipartisan drubbing for debate performance"