OPINION:
Rumors are swirling about a purported whistleblower with the goods on ABC News producers colluding with the Kamala Harris campaign. Yet, there’s no need to resort to the assertions of an unverified affidavit to recognize last week’s debate was a partisan attempt to sabotage the public discourse.
Throughout what was supposed to be a 90-minute contest between the candidates, ABC’s moderators became participants. They offered six “fact checks” against former President Donald Trump while allowing Ms. Harris to repeat debunked hoaxes, such as the lie that the former president was referring to neo-Nazis when he said there were “fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville controversy.
The first presidential debate fact check happened 12 years ago when CNN’s Candy Crowley inserted herself into the discussion between former Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Besides exposing her personal bias, Ms. Crowley also displayed profound ignorance. Her attempt to correct the then-GOP nominee was nothing more than an expression of her opinion — which nobody asked for.
In a perfect world, an unbiased forum could equally offer factual corrections to both sides. For example, ABC could have challenged Ms. Harris over her Charlottesville claim by pointing out that the transcript of Mr. Trump’s words made clear he had referred only to those opposed to tearing down historic statutes as fine people.
However, ABC had no interest in providing a neutral forum. Like her CNN counterpart, Linsey Davis “fact-checked” Mr. Trump on an issue she does not understand. “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born,” the ABC moderator interjected as if she were the one running on the Democratic ticket.
Tell that to former Gov. Ralph Northam, the Virginia Democrat who, in an interview with WTOP radio, described what can happen during a partial-birth abortion procedure: “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
No whistleblower is needed to know that ABC had no intention of serving as an honest broker. Moderator David Muir hosts the most liberal newscast on the old-fashioned television networks. According to the Media Research Center, 93% of his stories about Mr. Trump were negative, while 100% of stories about Ms. Harris were positive.
ABC is owned by Disney, a corporation that has long abandoned its family-friendly origins and descended the leftward path of diversity, equity and inclusion. Disney’s latest television offering, the “Star Wars: The Acolyte” television program, was canceled last month because the thinly disguised leftist propaganda was deeply unpopular, earning a dismal 18% Rotten Tomatoes score from the public.
The Disney-ABC moderators interrupted the GOP nominee as soon as he began scoring points, changing the topic to something more favorable to the Democratic candidate. Instead of muting the microphones of contestants, they should mute the moderators and limit their role to that of timekeepers.
Serious thought needs to go into revising the presidential debate format because this important public function shouldn’t be entrusted to moderators who act like their names are on the ballot.
Maybe it’s time to explore new venues, like podcasts, to replace the current, irredeemably biased pool of hosts. Joe Rogan, who has about 15 million listeners, is no fan of Mr. Trump but would be an honest broker.
Unless the format changes, future moderators are likely to become more unbearable.
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