Debate moderator Lester Holt repeatedly challenged Donald Trump during Monday night’s highly anticipated debate, but refrained from going after Hillary Clinton in the same aggressive manner. Holt also minimized the Democrat’s e-mail scandal. It was only brought up because Trump did so.

Instead, the NBC Nightly News anchor promoted the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy, demanding, “Mr. Trump, this year Secretary Clinton became the first woman nominated for president by a major party. Earlier this month you said she doesn't have, quote, 'a presidential look.' She's standing here right now. What did you mean by that?”

He then followed-up, reminding, “The quote was 'I just don't think she has the presidential look.'" The moderator certainly showed a dogged determination in getting answers — when it came to Trump. On the birther issue, he repeatedly grilled:

HOLT: Mr. Trump, for five years, you perpetuated a false claim that the nation's first black president was not a natural born citizen. You questioned his legitimacy. In the last couple of weeks, you acknowledge what most Americans have accepted for years: the President was born in the United States. Can you tell us what took you so long? ... HOLT: The birth certificate was produced in 2011. You continued to tell the story and question the President's legitimacy in 2012, ‘13, ‘14, ‘15, as recently as January. So, the question is what changed your mind?



Yet, there were no questions about the Clinton Foundation. No questions about Clinton’s health. The e-mail scandal came up only because of Trump. He attacked, “I will release my tax returns, against my lawyer's wishes, when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted.”

This prompted Holt to meekly ask Clinton: “He also raised the issue of your e-mails. You want to respond to that?” There was no follow-up after that.

When the subject came to security, there was no analysis of Clinton’s judgment on Libya, Benghazi or Iraq. Instead, it was Trump who got hammered:

HOLT: Mr. Trump, with a lot of these are judgment questions. You had supported the war in Iraq before the invasion. What makes your judgment — TRUMP: I did not support the war in Iraq. HOLT: 2002 — TRUMP: That is a mainstream media nonsense put out by her because she frankly I think the best person in her campaign is mainstream media. HOLT: My question is since you supported it, why is your judgment — TRUMP: Would you like to hear? I was against — wait a minute. I was against the war in Iraq. Just so you put it out. HOLT: The record shows otherwise.

Prior to the debate, the Clinton campaign repeatedly worked the refs to get tougher questions for Trump. In the case of Lester Holt, the strategy worked.

A transcript of all the questions can be found below: