Following the ABC News presidential debate, left-leaning pundits and commentators praised the moderators for their fact-checking and criticized Donald Trump for blaming them after his perceived loss.
Left-leaning media pundits and commentators have lauded the moderators of the ABC News presidential debate, calling out Donald Trump for his complaints of bias. Liberals praised the moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir, and suggested that Trump's criticism indicated his defeat.
Media Pundits Celebrate Debate Moderators, Condemn Trump's Blame Game
"If you're showing up in the spin room, you've lost. If you're blaming the moderators, you've lost," Politico's Jonathan Lemire said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Vice President Kamala Harris was widely considered the victor in the debate against Trump, who entered the spin room afterward and claimed to have had a great night.
Media Pundits Celebrate Debate Moderators, Condemn Trump's Blame Game
Both moderators fact-checked Trump multiple times during the debate, while neglecting to fact-check Harris.
Pundits criticized Trump's post-debate reaction and praised the moderators' performance.
NBC News' Dasha Burns said Trump's immediate reaction was telling, as he traditionally goes to the spin room only when he feels he didn't perform well.
"He's now saying, after claiming he’s willing to do another debate, now saying maybe not so much," Burns said. "And he and his team have spent a lot of the day and a lot of last night going after the moderators, going after the network, rather than talking about their candidate’s performance, which I think is pretty telling."
CNN's Abby Phillip commended Muir and Davis's fact-checking, while Jeffrey Toobin described their performance as "excellent."
Dylan Byers of Puck News praised ABC's "incredibly commendable job," and Bakari Sellers of CNN said Trump's humiliation led him to blame the moderators.
Justin Baragona noted that Democrats had similarly blamed the CNN moderators after the Biden-Trump debate in July.
Former CNN host Don Lemon expressed his gratitude for the moderators in a social media post.
Fox News contributor Marie Harf relayed a conservative writer's admission that complaining about the refs indicated losing.
CNN's Scott Jennings agreed that blaming the moderators was not a positive sign for Trump.
MSNBC's Brian Lowry praised Davis and Muir's performance, comparing it favorably to that of CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in the first Biden-Trump debate.
"Particularly notable was the duo’s real-time fact-checking of Trump," Lowry wrote.
