CNN defends 'superb' debate moderator Candy Crowley over her 'point of fact' on Benghazi . . . and claims she only gave Obama more time because he speaks slowly



CNN has sent out talking points to its staff, directing them to say that Candy Crowley was merely 'stating a point of fact' about the Libya 'terror' row and insisting that Barack Obama only got more time than Mitt Romney because he speaks slowly.

In an email to all CNN staff, the network's managing editor Mark Whitaker congratulated his anchoron her role as moderator and washing over the controversy over her effectively siding with Obama over Romney on a question concerning the U.S. Consulate attack in Libya last month.

Whitaker wrote: 'Let's start with a big round of applause for Candy Crowley for a superb job under the most difficult circumstances imaginable.'

Show of support: Moderator Candy Crowley had the backing of CNN despite what her critics said

According to the internal email, obtained by TMZ , Whitaker continued: 'The reviews on Candy's performance have been overwhelmingly positive but Romney supporters are going after her on two points, no doubt because their man did not have as good a night as he had in Denver.'

The moderator's dramatic intervention, in which she cut Romney short when he claimed that Obama had failed to say the attack was the work of terrorists in the his Rose Garden statement the following day, has been met with outrage.

Crowley appeared to backtrack just a few hours after she left the GOP candidate exposed on the stage in front of millions of viewers.



She admitted that Romney had been 'right in the main' but added that he had 'picked the wrong word'.

She then told chat show The View today: 'It didn't come to me as I'm going to fact check that. It came to me as let's get past this... To me I was really trying to move the conversation along... This is a semantic thing.'



Coming out fighting: The President, pictured with Romney at the start of the debate, was much more aggressive

A storm of protest has followed the incident. Top Romney allies said Crowley 'had no business' intervening in the argument, accusing her of 'getting in the game' rather than being an impartial observer.

IN FULL: THE CNN EMAIL

Let's start with a big round of applause for Candy Crowley for a superb job under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. She and her team had to select and sequence questions in a matter of hours, and then she had to deal with the tricky format, the nervous questioners, the aggressive debaters, all while shutting out the pre-debate attempts to spin and intimidate her. She pulled it off masterfully. The reviews on Candy's performance have been overwhelmingly positive but Romney supporters are going after her on two points, no doubt because their man did not have as good a night as he had in Denver.

On the legitimacy of Candy fact-checking Romney on Obama's Rose Garden statement, it should be stressed that she was just stating a point of fact: Obama did talk about an act (or acts) of terror, no matter what you think he meant by that at the time. On why Obama got more time to speak, it should be noted that Candy and her commission producers tried to keep it even but that Obama went on longer largely because he speaks more slowly. We're going to do a word count to see whether, as in Denver, Romney actually got more words in even if he talked for a shorter period of time.

During a question about security at the Benghazi compound, where four American officials including ambassador Chris Stevens were killed on September 11, Obama said he was ultimately responsible as commander-in-chief.

Romney then questioned whether or not Obama had called the consulate attack an 'act of terror' in his Rose Garden address the following day.

While Obama cut across Romney - saying 'look at the transcript' - Crowley seemed to back up the President, telling the Republican governor that Obama did 'call it an act of terror'.

Her interjection drew applause from the audience, led by Mrs Obama, but angered political commentators, who accused Crowley of stepping in on behalf of the President.



Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro called the moderator's reactions a 'disgrace' while his colleague John Nolte said Crowley 'lied to save Obama'.

Democratic strategist Joe Trippi told Fox News the exchange was 'going to help the President', adding: ' There’s a ref, and the ref just threw the flag.'

Romney advisor Ron Kaufman continued the sporting metaphor as he said: 'At different times tonight, she in fact got into the game, and she wasn't on the sidelines.'

And former New Hampshire governor John Sununu said: ' Candy was wrong, and Candy had no business doing that, and Candy didn't even keep the time right.'

However, top Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom insisted he was relaxed about the controversial intervention, saying: 'I don't complain about the refs - I think Candy was dandy.'

The shock moment came in the middle of what CBS News anchor Scott Pelley described as ' the most rancorous presidential debate ever', adding: ' We have never seen anything like that in presidential history. They turned every question from the audience into an attack on the other.'

Crowley often struggled to control the candidates as they spoke over each other amid angry exchanges.

Crowley's interjection angered political commentators, who said she had stepped in on behalf of the President