Presidential debates are often miserable affairs, but ever since Donald Trump brought his constant stream of lies to the political scene in 2016, they’ve become simply unwatchable. Why? Because so often, moderators aren’t able to (or choose not to) do basic fact-checking and challenge his false claims in real time. But during Tuesday’s first debate between Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris, ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis actually held the former president to account — and it was wonderful to watch.
Trump’s reputation precedes him: During his four years in office, the former president told more than 30,500 lies, or an average of about 21 false claims daily, according to the Washington Post. He hasn’t slowed down since leaving office, which makes fact-checking him a tall order.
But Muir and Davis rose to the task on Tuesday, first jumping in when Trump claimed that abortions occur after birth in some states. Davis called him out and corrected the record: Infanticide is illegal in every state. Then when the former president spouted a racist conspiracy theory about immigrants to the city of Springfield, Ohio, stealing and eating locals’ pets, Muir noted the city manager has confirmed those claims, which have been amplified by high-profile Republicans, are entirely false. And when Trump brought up some skewed crime statistics in an attempt to ding Harris, Muir corrected him, too.
While Trump loves to accuse mainstream news outlets like ABC News of bias, the moderators did hold Harris’s feet to the fire, too, asking her to account for why she’s changed her positions on fracking and health care since her 2020 presidential-primary campaign. Muir and Davis barely had to fact-check Harris, though, because she doesn’t lie as furiously as Trump does.
The anchors’ involvement was a welcome change from the disastrous debate between Trump and President Joe Biden in June, when CNN moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper did not attempt to correct either candidate. Trump’s strategy has always been to drown the public in falsehoods to obfuscate his policy positions and scare the American people. This time, he wasn’t able to get away with it.
