Several current and former figures with NBC Universal criticized the company’s announcement of a Thursday evening town hall featuring President Trump that would run concurrent to one held by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on ABC.
NBC’s announcement on Wednesday led to calls to boycott the network on social media, while some in the network’s entertainment division also let loose criticism.
“Connecting” actress Shakina Nayfack slammed both networks in a Twitter thread, stating that the two candidates should be asked to debate head-to-head. The second presidential debate had been scheduled to occur Thursday, but Trump rejected plans to make the event digital following his coronavirus diagnosis.
“Connecting” executive producer Martin Gero chimed in, tweeting: “I strenuously object to @NBC giving Trump a town hall directly opposite Biden’s on @ABC. Trump pulled out of the debate to destabilize the election.”
NBC executives did not immediately return a request for comment.
Other Hollywood figures including actor George Takei, who became famous on NBC’s “Star Trek” in the late 1960s, voiced their displeasure as well.
“Don’t watch the Trump Town Hall tomorrow on NBC. Catch the highlights later,” Takei tweeted.
“NBC could’ve scheduled its town hall with Trump LITERALLY any other date/time as the town hall previously scheduled with Biden for Thursday on ABC. But they choose the same time. Then again NBC gave us The Apprentice,” said radio host Dean Obediallah, also a CNN contributor.
A former editor-in-chief at MSNBC.com, Merrill Brown, argued that the network’s executives must “explain ASAP how agreeing at last minute to add a town hall with President Trump opposite an @abcnews Joe Biden Town Hall is in the public interest.”
“Even doing it at 10 ET just after Biden would have been a better decision,” he tweeted.
Trump and Biden are currently scheduled to meet again for one more prime-time debate, set for Oct. 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.