9News Denver anchor Kyle Clark was praised—and has gone viral again—for his expert moderation of a recent congressional debate featuring Republican Representative Lauren Boebert, who just won her Colorado primary in the state's 4th district.
TikToker @angryfnpolitics shared a video featuring clips of Clark absolutely slaying his role as debate moderator a few weeks ago, causing many to urge Clark to get a promotion to moderating a certain other debate this week.
You can watch the video on TikTok below, which was captioned:
This Is How Debate Moderation Is Done!!
In the video, after Boebert claimed Colorado "had a very close election but we also had 50,000 Republicans not show up to vote," Clark responded:
"Just to be clear, Ms. Boebert, you blame Republican voters for the fact you nearly lost the safe seat and not your own conduct. Ms. Boebert, you're running an ad right now that says, 'Deport them all.' Describe in detail how you see mass deportation playing out in the cities and towns of the 4th congressional district."
An annoyed Boebert responded:
"First of all, having over 10 million illegal aliens coming into our country in under four years, this is unprecedented."
But Clark replied:
"I'll note that you didn't make any attempt to answer the question, which is who should be doing this. You introduced articles of impeachment against [President Joe Biden] for his handling of the border. That move was blocked by Republican House leadership."
[after Boebert denied it was blocked] "It was blocked by sending it to committee so you didn't get the full House vote that you wanted. I apologize, this is going to be a long evening."
Clark then turned his attention to Republican Jerry Sonnenberg, who has "also called for mass deportations" and responded with the following when asked to elaborate on the "economic impact" of such a proposal:
"Absolutely. I would use the police. I would use the National Guard. Those people aren't the ones working. Those people are the ones causing the crime to go up in Denver and around a mansion—"
At this point, Clark cut him off:
"Can you provide any evidence to support that because law enforcement has not put that forward. I'm just curious where you're getting that causation."
He then moved to candidate Deborah Flora, a self-proclaimed "conservative fighter":
How would that work if the National Guard or the military were to come into Douglas County where you live and start rounding people up?"
Flora said she thinks "it is time that we take it very seriously for what it is," only to receive pushback from Clark, who implored her to answer his question:
"Ms. Flora, could you please answer the question. Bringing an out of state National Guardsman or the U.S. military in Douglas County: Do you feel that would work?"
But Flora did not answer directly, launching into a tangent about "suing" Biden over his immigration policy that Clark had no time for:
"The question is about the actual work of rounding people up in Douglas County. We took a couple of tries at that."
[turning back to Boebert] "Ms. Boebert, this session of Congress is on track to be the least productive in history in terms of the bills passed. Your Republican House colleague Andy Biggs said, 'We have nothing to go out there and campaign on.' Another House Republican, Chip Roy, said, 'The Republican majority does not have one material meaningful significant accomplishment."
"That's what the Republicans are saying. I would give you one more opportunity if you'd like to answer this question, which is the number of bills you've prime sponsored that have been signed by the president."
Boebert responded that her "Public Jobs Act has been signed" and answered "That is one" when Clark asked her to provide a number.
Then Clark turned back to Flora, noting that she'd called on "all parents to pull their children out of public elementary and middle schools," adding that the Colorado Republican Party has done the same:
"If parents were to take your advice seriously and pull all the kids out of public schools, what would America without a public education system look like?"
She replied that she's "proud of the work I've been doing on school choice" but Clark pushed back again:
"I was hopeful for an answer about what would happen if folks followed your advice and pulled all the kids out of public schools but we'll leave that for another conversation."
In perhaps the debate's most striking moment, Clark grilled candidate Mike Lynch about his drunk driving arrest:
"You resigned your position as House Minority Leader after your drunk driving arrest surfaced this year."
"My question is not about what you did while drunk, which for anybody who missed it was speeding up at I-25 at 90 miles per hour so fast a trooper thought that you were trying to race him. Then you reached for your gun at the traffic stop, you asked the trooper to call the State Patrol's lobbyist, then you asked him to keep the arrest out of the media."
"My question to you is about what you did while sober. You did not disclose your drunk driving arrest to your Republican colleagues when they were considering you for leader and electing you. What does that tell voters about your judgment?"
A visibly uncomfortable Lynch said he "should not have done it" only for Clark to ask if it was "a mistake" that he was being considered for Colorado House leadership "knowing that you had something so big and embarrassing in your recent past." Lynch did not respond.
Clark then pivoted to State Representative Richard Holtorf, who represents the 63rd district and has his own sketchy past:
"You told a State House colleague who had lost his son in the Aurora Theater shooting that he needs to 'let go' of his son's murder. You called a legislator of color 'buckwheat' during a floor debate."
"You suggested people with disabilities are like people who took the risk of running with the bulls in Pamplona, and you suggested that Ms. Boebert dresses like a prostitute. Do you regret saying those things and why do you talk to people like that?"
After the clips went viral on TikTok, people suggested Clark should be given the opportunity to moderate tomorrow night's presidential debate.
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The clips also went viral on X, formerly Twitter, where many shared the same sentiment.
Clark is certainly making waves nationally and was the subject of a lengthy profile this week in Westword that noted "Going viral for doing good work — as opposed to being spotlighted by HBO's John Oliver after gushing orgasmically about pumpkin-spice lattes, as other anchors have — is uncommon for a local TV news personality."
He started his broadcasting "young" and maintains strict discipline while sorting through pitches and anchoring 9News. Considering his fast rise as well as the attention Clark has received in recent weeks, it "raises the prospect that a big station in a larger market or a major network might poach him," wrote Westword writer Michael Roberts.
However, Clark has maintained he "loves his current job and has concluded that local TV is even more important now than when he joined 9News seventeen years ago."
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