Carly Fiorina’s appearance on Chuck Todd’s Meet the Press (NBC) gave us another revealing look at a feisty candidate who is well-prepared to deal with an oppositional media establishment. 

Todd’s interview began with a focus on the Planned Parenthood controversy, with the allegation that the video so passionately described by Fiorina in the second Republican debate does not exist.  Fiorina stuck to her story, and Todd replied that the video was “at best stock footage” rather than an actual recording of a Planned Parenthood procedure.  Ms. Fiorina highlighted the included audio in which an unidentified voice, purported to be from Planned Parenthood, says, “We’re going to keep it alive to harvest its brain.”  

Todd persisted with his effort to negate her claims, but Fiorina expressed a resolute and cogent critique of Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of fetal body parts, abetted by funding from U.S. taxpayers.  She deftly turned the argument away from Todd’s “gotcha” play to the heart of the matter.

“Planned Parenthood desperately wants everyone to think this isn’t going on, because when Americans realize this is going on, whether they are pro-life or pro-choice, they are horrified.”  Her coup de grâce was delivered thusly: “Do you think this is not happening?  Does Hillary Clinton think this is not happening? ... This is happening in America today, and taxpayers are paying for it. … Not only are taxpayers having to fund this butchery, but Planned Parenthood doles out millions of dollars every single election cycle to Democrat candidates.  This is a political slush fund, on top of being butchery, that Americans – again, whether they are pro-life or pro-choice – cannot support.”

I score that round in favor of Carly Fiorina.