ABC Debate Moderators Treated Kamala, Trump Differently On Fact-Checks, Follow-Up Questions: Analysis

ABC News debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked former President Donald Trump several times during Tuesday night’s debate — while allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to lie with impunity.

It was obvious coming into the debate that Trump was not going to get a fair shake, given that Davis had tried to falsely suggest that Trump had ties to the KKK last month and an analysis from this week found that Muir gave Harris 100% positive coverage and Trump 93% negative coverage.

A Daily Wire analysis of the debate found that the moderators fact-checked Trump four times, while never fact-checking well over a dozen lies that Harris told. They also hit Trump with six follow-up questions or remarks after it was his turn to talk, something that they did not do to Harris even as she repeatedly evaded answering questions.

The fact-checks that Muir and Davis gave to Trump included the following examples:

1. After Trump noted highly controversial remarks from former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam from 2019, when Northam talked about allowing a baby born alive after an abortion to die. Trump said that “in other words, [they’ll] execute the baby.” Davis responded to the remarks: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
2. Trump highlighted how there have been allegations made in recent days that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the dogs … They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” Muir fired back that the city manager told the network that that is not happening, even though the Ohio Attorney General said this week that they’ve heard complaints of people eating livestock and wild animals. When Trump said that he was repeating what he saw on television, Muir condescendingly responded: “I’m not taking this from television. I’m taking it from the city manager.”
3. Trump highlighted the fact that there has been an explosion of crime across the U.S. tied to millions of illegal aliens that have come into the U.S. Muir responded: “President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country.” The FBI released preliminary data for a few months this year that showed a downward trend but the data is not finalized until a long time after the year ends. The data was released before the summer started, which is the most violent time of the year. “Summer is just starting so, you know, we are also very cautious that we don’t overstate and overestimate the direction we’re going,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
4. Muir responded to Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen by saying that judges “said there was no widespread fraud.”

At no point during the debate did Muir and Davis fact-check any of Harris’ lies.

Both moderators also repeatedly pressed Trump with follow-up questions and remarks, something they did not do once with Harris, despite her being the candidate that is the most unknown to the public.

Examples of the follow-up questions and remarks that the moderators hit Trump with include:

• On abortion: “Would you veto a national abortion ban if it came to —,” Davis said. “But if I could just get a yes or no.”
• On border bill: “Let me just ask, though, why did you try to kill that bill and successfully so?” Muir asked. “That would have put thousands of additional agents and officers on the border.”
• On January 6: “It’s a very simple question as we move forward toward another election,” Muir said. “Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day? Yes or no.”
• The Ukraine-Russia war: “Your time is up. Just to clarify the question, do you believe it’s in the U.S. best interests for Ukraine to win this war?” Muir asked. “Yes or no?”
• On repealing Obamacare: “So just a yes or no, you still do not have a plan?” Davis asked.
• When Trump mentioned Pelosi’s role in providing security on January 6, Muir snarked back: “The question was about you as president, not about Former Speaker Pelosi.”