“Matt did a tremendous job," the presidential candidate said. | Getty Trump: Matt Lauer was 'very good'

NBC’s Matt Lauer was pummeled by fellow journalists for what many saw as his kid-gloves treatment of Donald Trump during the Commander-in-Chief Forum earlier this week.

But Trump didn’t mind.


The Republican nominee, veering off the teleprompter at the Values Voter Summit on Friday, offered high praise for Lauer while slamming Hillary Clinton for what Trump deemed her own subpar performance at the forum.

"Her answers were bad. They were bad, and you know, she was blaming Matt Lauer, but he was very good," Trump said. "I mean his questions were tough. Very tough."

Lauer was taken to task for not pushing back against Trump as the Republican nominee claimed he was always against the Iraq War — an assertion debunked by many in the media — and for spending much of his time with Clinton asking about her email scandal and then rushing through the national security questions.

Reports emerged that one NBC executive called Lauer’s hosting performance a “disaster,” but NBC News and MSNBC Chairman Andy Lack on Friday called the event a success.

“Matt did a tremendous job — driving one of the most serious discussions to date on these topics,” Lack said in a memo to staff.

Lack also touted the amount of buzz the forum generated, writing, "Because of our event, national security has dominated the news cycle for days. Every major paper and news broadcast around the world has led with headlines about Putin, Iraq, ISIS, and intelligence briefings.”