The fourth GOP primary debate on Wednesday aired on NewsNation, Rumble, and SiriusXM. The joint venture meant there were plenty of ways to watch, stream, and listen to the event, but some viewers were left scratching their heads over what happened to the broadcast in the middle of one of Megyn’s questions.
While asking a question about COVID-19, the Rumble livestream of the debate froze and then went black. The feed returned a few minutes later, but – given the topic of the question – the timing of the glitch led to much speculation online.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Glenn Greenwald, host of Rumble’s System Update, to discuss the debate and what really happened on Rumble.
Technical Difficulties
In the second hour of the debate, Megyn began asking Vivek Ramaswamy a question about COVID-19 vaccines and the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program to develop them.
Megyn was mid-sentence when the Rumble stream cut out for several minutes. “One of my questions last night was about the vaccine injured and apparently, unbeknownst to me, the feed blacked out on Rumble in the middle of the question,” Megyn said. “I totally understand why, on that question, it would lead people to go into ‘whoa, who did that?’ mode.”
Jenna Ellis, a former Trump lawyer who has since endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, was one of many X (formerly known as Twitter) users who questioned the timing of the technical snafu.
She posted a photo of the screen showing a message that stated “we’ll be right back” rather than the debate. “Why did Rumble pause just when Megyn Kelly was asking about Operation Warp Speed and the Covid ‘vax’,” she asked.
Rumble Responds
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski quickly chimed in and said the glitch was the result of a third party – not the video platform. “The stream on our end did not go down at all, but the feed coming in (the source feed from a 3rd party) failed for a few minutes when sending to us,” he shared. “This is a different source that the TV channels got and we are unsure why the source to Rumble went dark for a few minutes.”
To that point, Megyn noted the feed was also interrupted in the Spin Room. “NewsNation had a problem feeding to the Spin Room as well on that question and maybe another one I heard,” she shared. Even so, she understands the rush to judgment. “I get it, but we just want to clear it up,” she said. “There’s no conspiracy.”
Greenwald, who broadcasts his show on Rumble, noted that even the candidates were understanding of the situation. “Christina Pushaw, the spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis, said… if there’s any platform that wants an open COVID debate and has done more to foster an open COVID debate, it’s Rumble – they allow every last conceivable view on there,” he concluded. “So, as Christina said, if it were any other platform, I’d be suspicious, but not with Rumble.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Greenwald by tuning in to episode 681 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.