Disney Threatens to Boycott Georgia Over Anti-Gay Bill

According to the Observer, McCrory’s camp planted three questions under the guise of being presubmitted by that newspaper at a recent event for Charlotte business owners. When editorial page editor Taylor Batten attempted to step in and ask a question, McCrory brushed him off, claiming the previous trio of questions was enough from the state’s most-read newspaper.

When the moderator asked how to get started, McCrory said, “Anything you like. No filter here.” Sure, who needs a filter when you posed the questions yourself?

When I tried to ask McCrory a question, the filter went up. “We’ve got three Observer questions answered already. I think you guys dominate the news enough.”

Of course, those weren’t Observer questions. They were softballs from his staff about what he wanted to do with his next term; how he wanted to reduce the state’s rape kit backlog; and how the state crime lab performed under McCrory’s opponent, Roy Cooper.
Batten confirmed the questions were planted by the McCrory staff in speaking with Ricky Diaz, a campaign spokesperson. Diaz claimed the questions were inserted as an attempt to, in his words, “keep the conversation format going.”

Hood Hargett Breakfast Club executive director Jenn Snyder denies this; she told Batten she expected McCrory to take live questions from the audience, but his camp insisted all questions be submitted ahead of time. In doing so, they mixed in three of their own questions with legitimate ones from those from the public and the press without notifying those in attendance of their origins.