Republicans protest presidential debate fact checking unfair
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans complained Wednesday that the ABC News presidential debate the night before was unfair to the Republican nominee.
But the campaigns of Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris have also engaged through the media about the possibility of a second debate before the Nov. 5 election.
Trump and his allies said ABC News moderators “World News Tonight” anchor and editor David Muir and “World News Tonight” Sunday anchor and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis sided with Harris in fact-checking some of Trump’s more outlandish claims.
“It was three to one,” Trump said Wednesday during a call to Fox News’ morning show “Fox & Friends,” referring to Harris and the two moderators. “It was a rigged deal, as I had assumed, because when we looked at it, they were correcting everything and not correcting with her.”
During Tuesday night’s debate, Davis challenged Trump’s claim that a former Democratic governor had raised the possibility of allowing abortion after a baby is born.
“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born,” Davis said.
Muir also challenged Trump when the former president repeated baseless rumors that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating residents’ pets, saying Springfield’s city manager had debunked the claim.
“A terribly moderate debate,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Fox News’ Sean Hannity immediately after the debate. “It was three to one.”
Representatives for ABC News did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the criticism.
Debate Poll
The idea that ABC moderators were biased toward Harris was not widely shared outside Republicans.
In a YouGov survey Of more than 3,000 adults, 40% said the moderators were fair and impartial. The second most common response was “I don’t know,” at 29%, and 27% of respondents said the moderators were biased in favor of Harris.
A plurality of independents, 32%, and 69% of Democrats also said the moderators were fair. Just over half of Republicans said Muir and Davis were unfair to Trump.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump touted his debate performance overnight and posted several screenshots of polls from right-wing news outlets indicating he had won the debate.
“Comrade Kamala Harris wants another debate because she lost so badly. Just look at the polls! It’s true for boxers, when they lose a fight they immediately want another one. MAGA2024,” Trump wrote in response to the Harris campaign’s suggestion of holding a second debate.
Trump defended his comments about Haitian migrants in Ohio. The false allegations have circulated in right-wing circles and amplified on social media Monday by Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
He released an audio message from the police published According to conservative outlet The Federalist, migrants were spotted carrying geese in late August. Trump also reposted a video, Verified by facts by the Canton, Ohio newspaper, The Repository, of a woman, with no known connection to the Caribbean nation, in Canton who on Aug. 16 was arrested and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing and eating a cat.
Before the debate, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself surrounded by cats and waterfowl on his private jet, as well as an army of cats wearing MAGA hats and carrying semi-automatic rifles.
Another debate?
At a 9/11 memorial service in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Trump apparently He said he was open to two more debates, hosted by NBC News and Fox News.
The NBC event was supposed to take place on September 25, but Harris declined, preferring an October date.
Fox executives Tuesday night renewed the network’s offer to hold another debate in a swing state in October.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in an email that the former president’s comment on Fox News was a reference to a town hall meeting with commentator Sean Hannity earlier this month.
“This was supposed to be on September 4th,” Leavitt wrote. “Kamala didn’t show up, so it became a town hall meeting with Sean Hannity.”
Harris’ campaign has said the vice president wants another debate with Trump in October, a statement campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon reiterated Tuesday night.
“In the spotlight, the American people saw the choice they will face at the ballot box this fall: move forward with Kamala Harris or move backward with Trump,” O’Malley Dillon wrote. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see in a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump, too?”
