ABC News moderator Linsey Davis recently admitted that during the latest presidential debate, she and her co-moderator, David Muir, had deliberately chosen to fact-check only former President Donald Trump while avoiding any similar scrutiny of Vice President Kamala Harris. This decision was made in response to concerns that Trump’s statements had gone unchallenged in a previous CNN debate against President Joe Biden. The revelation has raised questions about bias in media and the fairness of debate moderation.
Key Facts:
– Linsey Davis admitted to targeting Trump for fact-checking but not Kamala Harris during the presidential debate.
– ABC moderators fact-checked Trump seven times, often incorrectly, but did not fact-check Harris once.
– The decision was reportedly based on concerns that Trump’s statements were left unchallenged in a prior CNN debate.
– Harris used the debunked “very fine people” hoax during the debate, which was not fact-checked by the moderators.
– This selective approach to fact-checking has drawn criticism, especially from conservative outlets.
The Rest of The Story:
In an interview with the *Los Angeles Times*, Linsey Davis openly acknowledged that ABC News had made a deliberate choice to scrutinize Donald Trump during the debate, while not extending the same treatment to Kamala Harris. This admission comes after the debate, where Trump was fact-checked seven times, often inaccurately, while Harris’s statements were left unchecked. Among these unchallenged claims was Harris’s repeated reference to the debunked “very fine people” hoax regarding Trump’s remarks after the Charlottesville protests.
Davis explained that this decision was a reaction to the CNN debate in June between Trump and Biden, where Trump’s statements were allowed to “hang” without being challenged. Davis said the moderators wanted to prevent a similar situation, despite the fact that Harris also repeated claims that had been debunked in the past. “People were concerned that statements were allowed to just hang,” Davis stated, referring to the June debate.
Despite the moderators’ preparation and review of past statements made by both candidates, Harris’s claims were left unchecked. This raises questions about why the same level of scrutiny wasn’t applied evenly. Critics argue that this demonstrates a clear bias in how the media approaches political debates, favoring one side over the other.
Commentary:
This admission by Linsey Davis is further evidence that the media is no longer a neutral arbiter in political discourse but has become a partisan player.
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By choosing to fact-check only Trump while ignoring Kamala Harris’s repeated use of debunked claims, ABC News demonstrated that it has a specific agenda. This is not journalism; this is advocacy.
When the media selectively applies scrutiny, it undermines its credibility as a trustworthy source of information.
In this case, the refusal to fact-check Harris reveals that the media is protecting favored candidates from accountability, making it impossible to trust their coverage as fair or balanced.
The Bottom Line:
The revelation that ABC News moderators deliberately chose to fact-check Trump but not Kamala Harris confirms suspicions of media bias.
By selectively applying scrutiny, the moderators showed their hand, and it’s clear that they are more interested in promoting a narrative than in delivering the truth.
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This kind of selective journalism erodes public trust and only deepens political divisions.
