- The Washington Times - Friday, October 16, 2020

A former Obama White House speechwriter was one of the questioners at Democrat Joseph R. Biden’s town-hall event on ABC on Thursday night.

Nathan Osborn of Philadelphia, the former speechwriter in the Obama-Biden administration, asked Mr. Biden a question about a Democratic proposal to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court.

ABC’s graphic on the screen said only that Mr. Osborn works in “communications.” He also had created a group in Philadelphia to boost former Democratic presidential primary candidate Pete Buttigieg.

Mr. Osborn’s attendance at the Biden town hall increased the accusations from the Trump campaign that ABC treated Mr. Biden too softly. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh called the development “a joke.”

“A former Obama speechwriter was one of the questioners in Biden’s town hall,” Mr. Murtaugh tweeted. “Why not just give him [Mr. Biden] some milk and cookies?”

President Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Ocala, Florida, criticized ABC for failing to ask Mr. Biden any questions about reports this week that his son Hunter received millions in foreign payments for little or no work while he was vice president.

“Did you see last night, did you see the easy questions? It’s the biggest story worldwide, it’s a corrupt family, and these people didn’t ask him [Joe Biden] one single question about it,” the president said.

The moderator for Mr. Biden’s event was George Stephanopoulos, a former top aide in President Bill Clinton’s White House.

Mr. Trump, in a town-hall hosted by NBC in Miami at the same time on Thursday night, found himself in a series of confrontational exchanges with moderator Savannah Guthrie.

“Another evening in paradise,” Mr. Trump quipped on Friday.

• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.

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