Matt Lauer is getting shredded over his 'disgrace' of a performance at Trump-Clinton forum

NBC News anchor Matt Lauer has come under fire for what critics are calling a dreadful performance at a Wednesday night forum with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Tasked with moderating the forum, Lauer was widely panned on social media for his handling of Trump's segment, in which he fed the Republican candidate allegedly easy questions and failed to press him on his claim that he initially opposed the Iraq War.

Meanwhile, critics pointed to Lauer's grilling of Clinton on her use of a private email server as evidence of unfair treatment at the forum.

As The New York Times pointed out, Lauer has less experience interviewing Trump than other NBC News anchors and may have been taken off-guard by the businessman's "motor-mouth style":

"At times, Mr. Lauer … appeared flummoxed by his subject's linguistic feints," the Times reported.

The candidates will off in their first head-to-head debate September 26. It will be moderated by another NBC News anchor, Lester Holt.

Here is some of the criticism:

Lauer's performance was so roundly condemned that the hashtag "#LaueringTheBar" began trending on Twitter.

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