The second Republican primary debate was held on Wednesday night. However, the chaotic post-debate buzz continued throughout the day on Thursday.
The purpose of the GOP debates was supposed to highlight the candidates and help voters make decisions as to who they would support in next year’s election.
Instead, according to many people, the spin room was more fun than the debate. Spin room??? According to Alex Jaffe who writes for MSNBC:
Welcome to the spin room, where facts are what you make them and every candidate’s a winner.
Spin rooms – the space set aside for candidates and their surrogates to reframe their debate performances, explain away any gaffes and deploy the one-liners they missed on stage – are typically chaotic affairs.
Clay Aiken was in the middle of the spin room on Wednesday night. He was covering the debate for Entertainment Tonight…and he did a great job, but he also got a lot of publicity. His appearance was mentioned in almost all of the articles about the debate. The following are just a few of the articles.
Jaffe, at MSNBC said:
It was a uniquely American spectacle: In a far corner of the room, Donald Trump, mobbed by reporters, insisted with typical bluster that he was the best of the night. Near the entryway, Clay Aiken, an “American Idol” runner-up, analyzed Trump’s performance for Entertainment Tonight.
Too bad he didn’t mention that Clay knew Trump and had run for Congress!
James Hohmann at The Washington Post said:
Donald Trump is running for president, and the post-debate spin room here in California has definitely gone Hollywood.
Clay Aiken of “American Idol” fame was on assignment at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday for “Entertainment Tonight.” “It was lively,” he said when asked for his impressions of the nearly three-hour debate.
Reality star Clay Aiken wanders the spin room at the Reagan library debate (James Hohmann/The Washington Post)
Well…I do think it was somewhat “Hollywood”…but “Reality Star???
I enjoyed the fun tweet and picture from Dana Bash at CNN:
And that time I was interviewed by @clayaiken Eat your heart out @kathygriffin
I also enjoyed the tweet and picture from Arsenio Hall:
If you are a news junkie like me, you saw @clayaiken, photobomb @hardball_chris tonight. #smoooove pic.twitter.com/gWeqeQXhpa
Clay sent an interesting tweet on Wednesday too:
GOP debate – hanging with @MichaelSteele
Michael Steele served as the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2009 until January 2011.
Clay was interviewed by the reporters from Funny or Die. This program never takes anything seriously and enjoys being funny and shocking some people. So…be prepared and watch for Clay!
Clay was on Entertainment Tonight on Thursday. His portion of the show was short, but excellent. I had hoped that I might be able to post a video of the show, but…well, I don’t think it is available yet. I will keep checking and add it if it is available.
Well…there was lots of buzz about Clay Aiken in the last few days. This post shows only a small slice of what is out there. It’s fun to see Clay working hard and having a good time!
Congratulations to Clay Aiken! I hope you had fun in the “Spin Room”. It certainly was fun for us!
Not only was Clay interviewing people, but he was being interviewed by fellow commentators about his political future and opinions on the debate. Clay is a natural in front of the camera. He was on Hardball with Chris Mathews later on. Chris asked Clay that he should write a book, titled: The Trump I Knew!
Thank you, musicfan for all the pictures!
I wonder who is getting "the look" !! LOL
What an exciting night!! I loved all the different comments from everyone. I'm sure some of them were meant as slams ( Hollywood, reality) but still interesting. It is ironic though that jthe debate was held In the Ronald Reagan Library. What was Ronald Reagon before President? That's right an actor in Hollywood!! Arnold Schwarznegger, Sonny Bono & Jesse Ventura to name a few were also "Hollywood/reality" people. I'm not sure why they choose to pick Cllay out of the crowd. Oh well, we all know how smart & articulate he is & he did great!
It was a great evening for Clay. Nice to see him doing what he loves to do. He is so in his element with politics.
Sorry Musicfan but what ET were you watching? I thought it was AWFUL! They show him interviewing Cher Margolis-the PSYCHIC and some mean chick from CNN that comments on him sweating?? Really?
I don't think ET is the right place for him. He is far too smart and interesting for the crap they are throwing him into.
I would love to see him on a news channel or his own show where he can show who he is.
As far as the "hollywood" and "reality star" comments go- it's disrespectful and if he is going to run again or try to be a reporter he needs to command a lot more respect.