Mark Halperin, a journalist and former political director at ABC News, alleged that the media was shielding Harris at all costs.He criticised the moderators’ gentle handling of Harris’ policy inconsistencies, calling it the “biggest failure of the night.”
During a livestream on his media platform 2WAY on Wednesday, Halperin said, “Not only was one news organization fully on board to continue through Election Day protecting her at all costs, but we saw in the coverage of the debate, which was laughably uneven, no recognition that it was laughably uneven. In fact, mostly praise for how great a job ABC did.”
He added, “Bigger to me, was last night was the best — and if the Harris campaign continues to hide her, maybe only chance — to get her to explain her issue position changes. That to me was the biggest failure.”
‘Shame on you ABC’: Megyn Kelly
The perceived bias of ABC debate co-moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis drew criticism from various analysts. Megyn Kelly, a former presidential debate moderator, delivered her brutal review of ABC’s 2024 presidential debate.
In a post on X, she said, “ABC’s Bias, How Trump Could Have Played it, and Whether the Debate Sways Voters with @Kmele, @mcmoynihan and @MattWelch Plus, the left’s over-the-top Taylor Swift Kamala endorsement reaction, Harris’ ‘medical misinformation’ on abortion, and more.”
While the debate was going on, Kelly posted a series of tweets slamming the moderators and Harris.
“The absolute gall of ABC to keep “fact checking” ONLY Trump while letting her lie in every answer is infuriating,” she said.
In another post, she said, “These moderators are a disgraceful failure and this is one of the most biased, unfair debates I have ever seen. Shame on you.”
‘How ABC moderators allow Harris to lie?’
Several people on social media throughout the debate targeted Muir and Davis’ for “one-sided” fact-checking.
Donald Trump Jr. also hammered the moderators for only fact-checking Trump, but not Harris.
“Weird how the hack moderators at @abcnews are only ‘Fact checking’ Trump and allowing Kamala to lie nonstop,” he wrote. “The Fake News is the enemy of the people!”
Embarrassing moderators did pure work of bias
Political commentator Noah Pollak called the moderators “worst moderators in presidential debate history” and their duty as “pure work of bias.”
“ABC hosts embarrassing themselves protecting Harris from having to answer whether she supports partial birth late term abortions,” he said in a post on X.
Trump wants ABC News banned on grounds of bias
Earlier, Trump even complained the debate was rigged, with the moderators “correcting everything” he said while not challenging Kamala Harris.
“I think ABC took a big hit last night. To be honest, they’re a news organization—they have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that,” he said.
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) voiced frustration, tweeting, “ABC’s selective ‘Fact Checking’ is why no one believes biased ‘Fact Checking.’” Other conservatives, including Hogan Gidley, a former Trump White House spokesman, criticised the moderators for failing to challenge Harris on several key issues, leaving Trump to fact-check her claims himself.