CNBC anchor John Harwood took a shot at Republicans who accused him of asking unfair questions at the GOP’s third presidential debate on Wednesday night.
Harwood said in a tweet on Thursday that co-moderating the unruly debate gave him an appreciation for Republican leadership in the House trying to maintain party unity in a divided caucus.
{mosads}”Moderating GOP debate in 2015 enriched my understanding of challenges @SpeakerBoehner has faced and @RepPaulRyan will face,” he said in the tweet.
Republican candidates bashed the moderators on several occasions during the debate.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won applause for accusing the moderators of pitting the candidates against each other by asking loaded questions.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also sparred with the moderators, saying they misrepresented his tax plan and asked questions repeating “discredited” attacks from his political opponents.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said the network “should be ashamed” of the debate, and added in a statement that he was “extremely disappointed” in the moderators.
Harwood at one point asked Donald Trump if he were running a “comic book version” of a presidential campaign.