Critics say ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis repeatedly fact-checked former President Trump during Tuesday's debate while failing to correct Vice President Kamala Harris on several inaccurate statements, leading to accusations of favoritism towards the Democratic candidate.
ABC News has come under fire following Tuesday's Presidential Debate for its perceived biased moderation, with conservatives accusing the network of repeatedly fact-checking former President Trump while failing to correct inaccuracies made by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, were criticized for not challenging Harris on her assertion that there is no state in the country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born, despite numerous examples of late-term abortions where babies have been born alive and denied medical care.
ABC News' Biased Moderation in Presidential Debate Draws Conservative Criticism
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an anti-abortion group, sent a letter to ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic, Muir, and Davis, urging the network to issue a correction regarding the "100% inaccurate" claim.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt suggested that the "journalistic reputations of Muir and Davis are the most scarred by the fiasco," adding that "the damage will extend to both the ABC and Disney brands" due to the moderators' failure to ask more critical questions of Harris.
ABC News' Biased Moderation in Presidential Debate Draws Conservative Criticism
Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell echoed these sentiments, stating that Harris had a clear advantage that should have been apparent, and that the decision to have Trump participate in the debate on ABC was a "disastrous choice."
The debate was not the first time ABC News has been accused of favoring Democrats over Trump. The network's daytime show "The View" has been openly anti-Trump for years, and on Thursday featured Chelsea Clinton as a guest host. The show's hosts were gleeful over the debate, with Whoopi Goldberg calling it a "booty whooping."
ABC News' Biased Moderation in Presidential Debate Draws Conservative Criticism
ABC's late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" has also been critical of Trump, and following the debate featured anti-Trump figures Jane Fonda and George Conway as guests. Kimmel even helped with a fundraiser for Biden when he was the Democratic nominee earlier this year.
Prior to the debate, the Media Research Center found that Muir's program, "World News Tonight," had been more "positive towards Harris and the most hostile to Trump" compared to evening newscasts on NBC and CBS.
ABC News' Biased Moderation in Presidential Debate Draws Conservative Criticism
"Our analysts found 25 clearly positive statements about Harris from reporters, anchors, voters or other non-partisan sources, with zero negative statements — none. That computes to a gravity-defying 100% positive spin score for the Vice President," wrote Rich Noyes, contributing editor of MRC NewsBusters.
As for Trump, the MRC found just five clearly positive comments, versus 66 negative statements, for a dismal 7 percent positive -- 93% negative -- spin score.
MRC researchers also pointed out that ABC has not used the word "liberal" to describe Harris, has not spoken to voters who oppose Harris, and regularly promotes Trump controversies while "hiding" negative news about Harris.
In addition, ABC News has a close relationship with Harris. Dana Walden, a senior Disney executive whose portfolio includes ABC News, is a close friend of Harris and has donated to her political campaigns since at least 2003.
Despite these accusations, ABC News has not yet issued a correction regarding the inaccuracies made by Harris during the debate. Fox News Digital's Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.
