In an article published today, Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, a renowned military historian, criticized ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis for their “shameless bias” during the Trump-Harris debate on Tuesday night. According to Hanson, the two reporters “ruined the debate, their own reputations, and their network’s brand.” He likened their performance to that of CNN’s Candy Crowley, who fact-checked Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential debate, giving an inaccurate account of events to defend Barack Obama.
In a widely viewed post on social media, Hanson highlighted the “shameful role” played by Muir and Davis during the debate. He accused them of repeatedly fact-checking Trump while allowing Harris to make unchecked statements, particularly regarding abortion and Charlottesville. According to Hanson, the debate will be remembered as a “three-on-one pile-on,” given the unprofessional and biased team of ABC moderators.
Hanson compared this incident to the infamous incorrect fact-checking of Mitt Romney by CNN’s Candy Crowley in the 2012 debate against Barack Obama. He stated that the ABC moderators undermined their careers by inserting themselves into the debate while displaying partisan leanings.
During that debate, Crowley intervened to rescue Obama from his mishandling of the Benghazi attack with an incorrect fact check. Similarly, in Wednesday’s debate, Hanson noted that moderators repeatedly interrupted to fact-check Trump, while allowing Harris’ claims to go unchallenged.
Both disrupted the tempo to fact-check (sometimes in error) and to editorialize Trump’s statements, while letting Harris’s Charlottesville, IVF, national abortion ban, ‘bloodbath’ or [Project] 2025 lies go unchecked,” he said. Often their disruptive fact checks of Trump were simply wrong,” he added.
Hanson also highlighted how the moderators posed provocative questions to Trump while avoiding pressing Harris on her past controversies or statements, and how Harris was not reprimanded for speaking over Trump. He concluded that “the real story was how ABC’s moderators ruined the debate, their own reputations, and their network’s brand.
The matter follows Tuesday’s presidential debate which saw Vice President Kamala Harris make numerous false claims, many of which went unchecked by the ABC moderators who frequently fact-checked Trump. The blatant bias displayed by the moderators spotlighted Disney executive Dana Walden, a close friend of Kamala Harris who oversees ABC News, with some suggesting Walden may have influenced the debate.