The talk here on X the night of and the day after ABC News' presidential debate shows that moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir were the focus of the debate and not the candidates. We've seen Donald Trump do better, and Kamala Harris didn't embarrass herself. But more people are talking about the "fact-checking" done by the moderators during the debate. According to Ryan Saavedra's review of the transcript, Trump was fact-checked by the moderators four times. Harris? Zero. Saavedra also counted six times that either Muir or Davis pressed Trump for a follow-up. Harris? Zero times.
But as CNN's Abby D. Phillip put it, "When there is asymmetrical lying, there will be asymmetrical fact-checking." CNN's own fact-checker, Daniel Dale, tallied 33 false claims made by Trump during the debate, and only one by Harris. What? Harris even fell back on the time-tested "very fine people" and "bloodbath" hoaxes which even liberal sites like Snopes have debunked.
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler didn't give us a tally that we know of, but he did think that having the moderators fact-check the candidates during the debate was a model for how future debates should be conducted.
Muir and Davis were well-prepared and might have provided a model for how moderators handle debates in the future.
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) September 11, 2024
What?
This is the worst propaganda thread I've ever read from you.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 11, 2024
In reality, the propagandists Muir and Davis were so objectively awful that they might have finally ruined the ability of Democrat media to moderate general election debates into the future. https://t.co/hdLsxRRBr3
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 11, 2024
Your attempt at trying to sound “reasonable” in the midst of completely false propaganda posts is pathetic.
— Sherry Kerdman (@sherry_kerdman) September 11, 2024
The model was for "How not to moderate a debate". Disgusting bias. The American people deserve and DEMAND better.
— Matt Conrad (@MattConradWyo) September 11, 2024
Recommended
As Twitchy reported, even TIME Magazine came up with one of the greatest corrections of all time by admitting they'd counted Trump's claim that Harris supported taxpayer-funder sex-change operations for jailed illegal immigrants as false, when Harris said exactly that on an ACLU questionnaire.
We already knew you’re a hack just like they are, but thanks for confirming.
— tom (@tom_4283) September 11, 2024
No Republican should go on @ABC ever again. I don't care how well Trump did or didn't do. This was media malfeasance of the most odious kind. Your profession is dead and you helped to kill it.
— Mike (@MadMadMadWorld_) September 11, 2024
Probably true that they're the model for future Democrat "moderators", which is why they'll never have another Republican participate that has any common sense. Good job, I guess.
— Tom in FL (@thomasa56) September 11, 2024
Fact checkers generally contribute more to propaganda than the original authors.
— Life is an Open Book Test. Open THE Book. (@MichaelHF2023) September 11, 2024
You are joking right? Why would a GOP candidate ever participate on @abc again?
— The Thrill (@PhinPhil) September 11, 2024
Honestly not sure how Glenn Kessler doesn't spontaneously combust from embarrassment and shame.
— SomeFNguy (@SomeFNGuy1) September 11, 2024
Everyone saw it. You can't just lie about a thing we all saw.
Absolutely wrong. No one will agree to an ABC News debate ever again. The moderators became debaters, NOT THEIR ROLE!!
— Lhop (@Lhop963) September 11, 2024
Not surprisingly, the debate ended up being between Trump and Harris, Davis, and Muir. Three-on-one. As much as it pains us to say it, CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash actually didn't do that badly at their task, which was to ask questions and keep time — not fact-check one and push back on one candidate. It's not the moderator's job to "correct" the candidate, as Davis did with her "Candy Crowley moment" early on.
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