ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, quickly correcting the record for millions watching at home after the Republican pushed falsehoods on abortion, migrants and the 2020 election.
The decision to live fact-check the candidates during the high-stakes telecast marked a departure from recent debates and stood in contrast to the first presidential matchup of the 2024 season, hosted by CNN and moderated by anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. During the June debate, the moderators did not correct false claims made by Trump and President Joe Biden. Instead, the network provided a fact check online and on television following the telecast.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia, ABC News did not commit to live fact-checking, but as the event got underway both anchors stepped in to debunk false claims made by Trump on at least three occasions.
Roughly 20 minutes into the debate, the former president claimed Democrats have advocated for abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy or were in favor of “executing” babies “after birth,” pushing a notorious and often-repeated false claim. Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, has said “execution after birth is OK,” Trump falsely claimed.
Moderator Linsey Davis immediately corrected the record on the abortion issue. “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” she said.
Later in the debate, Trump falsely claimed migrants in Ohio were killing pets and eating them, repeating a debunked claim that had been amplified this week by right-wing media figures and echoed by Republican leaders.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country and it’s a shame.”
Muir quickly corrected Trump on the claim.
“I just want to clarify here. You bring up Springfield, Ohio. ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
“Well, I’ve seen people on television,” Trump argued. “The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food. So maybe he said that and maybe that’s a good thing to say for a city manager.”
“I’m not taking this from television. I’m taking this from the city manager,” Muir responded.
“People are on television saying the dog was eaten by the people that went there,” Trump said.
“Again, the Springfield city manager says there’s no evidence of that,” Muir replied.
ABC’s moderators also took subtle approaches to establish the truth. Later in the debate, Muir asked Trump about a recent comment in which he appeared to acknowledge that he had lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden by a “whisker.”
“Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?” Muir asked.
“That was said sarcastically,” he said. “I don’t acknowledge that at all.”
Muir then turned to Harris, saying “you heard the president there tonight. He said he didn’t say that that he lost by a ‘whisker.’ So, he still believes he did not lose the election that was won by President Biden and yourself.”
Following the debate, CNN’s Daniel Dale reported Trump made at least 33 false claims during the debate, compared with one from Harris.
“This was a staggeringly dishonest debate performance from Trump. Just lie after lie on subject after subject,” Dale said.
During past debates, moderators have struggled to find a balance between fact-checking and how much to intervene to get candidates to respond or stay on track with their answers. In 2012, CNN anchor Candy Crowley drew heat from conservatives when she fact checked Mitt Romney during a debate with former President Barack Obama.
By 2020, the two general election moderators, Chris Wallace, then with Fox News, and NBC’s Kristen Welker, mostly stayed out of the way of fact-checking.
CNN political director David Chalian told The Washington Post ahead of the network’s debate in June that the stage “is not the ideal venue for a live fact-checking exercise.” The moderators’ role, he said, was “to plainly facilitate and moderate a debate … not to be a participant.”
ABC’s decision to live fact-check Trump from the stage drew the ire of his allies and those in right-wing media, who claimed the moderators were ignoring Harris’ inaccuracies.
“Weird how the hack moderators at @abcnews are only ‘Fact checking’ Trump and allowing Kamala to lie nonstop. The Fake News is the enemy of the people!” Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X.
“MORE FACT CHECKING FROM ABC – THIS IS THE WORST ANCHOR PILE-ON I HAVE EVER SEEN. 3 against 1,” Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC host turned conservative podcaster, wrote on X.
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