The presidential debate Thursday night was filled with false accusations and outright lies, but what made the 90-minute contest go off the rails and turn into the unchecked ramblings of two senior citizens was that CNN decided not to bother fact checking any of the claims.
As The Hill noted, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash simply sat and watched the performance, allowing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to dive in and out of rabbit holes of their own making. Only after the candidates completed their entire answer would the moderators interject or course correct. Other than that, it seemed like their job was limited to maintaining the allotted speaking time, allowing Trump in particular to spin a web of lies.
There was live fact checking, even at CNN, it just didn't make it on air, with reporter Daniel Dale left to do it on social media instead, Mediaite reported. Later in the night, Dale joined CNN anchor Erin Burnett for a post-debate analysis where he noted that Biden’s nine falsehoods paled in comparison to Trump’s “staggering number of false” statements, with the former president making a total of 30 false or misleading claims.
CNN’s political director had warned earlier in the week that its moderators would allow lies to go unchecked.
“The venue of a presidential debate between these candidates is not the ideal venue for a live fact-checking exercise,” David Chalian told The Washington Post.
But CNN has received considerable flack for its handling of the debate.
“CNN’s decision to abrogate its journalistic responsibilities by not fact-checking Trump’s firehose of lies is unforgivable,” former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann posted on X.
“I wish the CNN moderators did more fact-checking, letting the audience know when things are said that are flatly false. Not sure how it helps for a platform to transmit falsehoods disguised as facts,” Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist, added on X.
Despite the criticism, CNN stood by its moderators' performance.
“We are very proud of Jake and Dana. Our job was to make sure candidates were heard so voters can make informed decisions and we are pleased we were able to do that,” CNN said in a statement to The Hill.
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