Democrats are slamming CNN for not fact-checking former President Donald Trump during Thursday’s first presidential debate, with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) adding fuel to the fire on Friday.
“Frankly, I think CNN could have a done a better job in calling [Trump’s] lies out,” the Pennsylvania governor told CNN on Friday.
Following the first presidential debate, critics attacked Trump for spreading multiple “lies,” including his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol protest, Democrats’ stance on abortion, and the price of food.
“CNN’s moderating decisions damage the credibility of our profession,” Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah posted to X. “CNN’s format of no fact checking, no pushback, no follow-ups was a mistake.”
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof commented, “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.”
Meanwhile, the CEO of X, Elon Musk, praised CNN moderators for showing neutrality, writing on X, “No favoritism was shown to either candidate. This is what the public wants from the media.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, CNN defended its decision to refrain from comment during the debate.
“The role of the moderators is to present the candidates with questions that are important to American voters and to facilitate a debate, enabling candidates to make their case and challenge their opponent. It is up to the candidates to challenge one another in a debate,” the network said.
“CNN offered robust fact-checking coverage in post-debate analysis on TV and across our digital platforms during and following the debate’s conclusion,” the statement continued.
The top Democrat in a swing state that will be key to choosing the next president, Shapiro went on to attack Trump’s debate performance while conceding President Joe Biden’s poor performance.
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“Joe Biden had a bad debate night, but Donald Trump was a bad president,” Shapiro said. “I’ll be the first to admit that that was not a good look in that debate last night.”
Biden’s poor performance during his first presidential debate with Trump shocked political pundits. Top Democratic leaders and political operatives have called for an open convention, concerned about the president’s string of incoherent responses and frozen silences during the debate.
