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The biggest loser of the first (and perhaps only) presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump was the host of the matchup, ABC News, whose hosts, David Muir and Lindsey Davis, embarrassed themselves and their network by repeatedly (and sometimes incorrectly) fact-checking Trump's statements in real time while allowing Harris to spew a barrage of lies and distortions.
Social media erupted in excitement immediately after the debate began, with commentators, particularly on the right, calling Tuesday night's debate the worst and most one-sided in history.
There was a clear winner in the Trump-Harris matchup, but don't think the election is over.
Some of the non-truths Harris could (and should) have fact-checked include:
1. He talks about Project 2025 as if it were President Trump's manifesto and says he will pass a nationwide abortion ban.
2. Digging up Trump's Charlottesville remarks – “There were very fine people on both sides” has been proven false
3. President Trump says the pandemic has caused the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
4. Donald Trump says he's against IVF.
5. Denies that Kamala Harris has called for gun confiscation (there's video of her doing exactly that)
6. They say Trump's tax cuts only help the wealthy
7. And what I especially hate is when she says that she and Biden have “created” 800,000 manufacturing jobs, which is simply not true.
There was more: Ms Harris lied about her own record and Mr Trump's record, but was never questioned about either.
In a blow to Biden, left-wing fact-checker acknowledges Trump never called Charlottesville neo-Nazis 'very fine people'
Perhaps it was inevitable. Now that Harris' honeymoon is over and Trump is neck and neck and, in some polls, back in the lead, the liberal media is panicking.
Harris' pathetic efforts to remain silent during the campaign failed, and her refusal to give solo interviews or press conferences left American voters in the dark. As a result, the debates matter — people want to know where she stands. Unfortunately, she rarely answered questions and didn't flesh out the few policies she proposed, leaving people largely unaware of her views.
ABC debate moderator angered by Trump's hard fact-checking and soft treatment of Harris
That should have been the host's job, but the host refused to do so. Instead, she rambled on with Biden-like platitudes. Yet another fiercely partisan candidate promising to bring the country together. Remember that time?
The hosts asked Harris early on whether people were better off under a Biden-Harris administration than under Trump, but instead of naming areas of progress (presumably because there hadn't been any) she began describing the “opportunity economy,” a reference to her oft-touted “plan” that was apparently based on giving people money to buy homes, start businesses, and raise children.
There was no mention of how taxpayers would pay for all these “opportunities,” which, of course, is very Biden-esque: promising money to key voter groups like young people who have fallen away from the Democratic Party and small business owners who have historically supported Trump.
Trump argues with Harris and moderator at presidential debate: 'She has no plan'
Meanwhile, Trump failed to prosecute his own case. Harris was prepared and practiced, with her ready gestures and studied demeanor, while Trump was clearly unprepared. This is frustrating for Trump supporters because Trump has the facts on his side. Trump actually built a strong economy that was hit by COVID-19. Trump actually pacified the world and negotiated important new alliances among Middle Eastern countries. Trump actually degraded Iran's ability to wage proxy wars through sanctions and curbed Russia's energy dominance by canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Trump also warned the world of China's bad intentions and rule-breaking. None of Trump's predecessors tried to rein in Beijing.
But instead of making strong statements about his success, he rambled on and forgot to smile.
Trump hits back at Kamala Harris over 2020 debate “I'm talking” script in presidential debate showdown
Rather than patiently and methodically counter Harris with evidence that his administration has helped the middle class more than Harris has, Trump reverted to his original form, again insisting that he actually won the 2020 election.
It was false, and the liberal media was no doubt delighted. His comments would breathe new life into Biden and Harris' warnings that Trump is a threat to democracy, a topic that has been all but absent from political debate in recent months.
He repeatedly criticized Harris for failing to curb illegal immigration, without specifying the toll that influx has had on our cities, nor did he mention the untold numbers of people killed by fentanyl because of the open border, or the 320,000 children the White House has failed to account for. It was a low-hanging fruit, a missed opportunity.
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He also took the bait more than once: When Harris criticized his rally, saying people were bored and left, he couldn't help but fall into an argument about crowd size… again.
Trump did make some good points, such as noting that despite criticism of tariff policies, the Biden-Harris administration left tariffs on Chinese imports in place because they were effective. Trump also fired back by calling the jobs supposedly “created” by the current administration “recovery” jobs. He's right.
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His most effective remark of the night was in his closing statement, when he asked why she hadn't moved forward with the “opportunity economy” and other programs over the past three and a half years, why she hadn't fixed the border or created more jobs.
That's a question for moderators to ask.
To read more articles by Liz Peake click here
