Former President Trump has accused ABC News of violating an agreement not to fact-check during the presidential debate, claiming he faced unfair treatment compared to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Former President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on ABC News over its handling of the presidential debate, alleging that the network broke a pre-arranged agreement and treated him unfairly compared to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Speaking at Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday, Trump renewed his criticism of the Disney-owned network, accusing it of "violating" the agreement it had made with his campaign regarding fact-checking during the debate.
Trump Slams ABC Debate, Accusing Network of Breaking Agreement
"During the debate, I mentioned crime, and David Muir, a real lightweight, corrected me," Trump said. "I had one against three, but I think we did great. But David Muir of ABC, fake news, when I said that crime is way up in our country, he corrected me, and so much and it was right what I said."
Trump alleged that Muir violated the "deal" they had struck ahead of the debate, which prohibited any corrections or fact-checks during the event.
Trump Slams ABC Debate, Accusing Network of Breaking Agreement
"Now you don't know this, but we had a deal with ABC that there will be no corrections of any kind, and they violated the deal. Why? Because they're bad people, and they're fake news," Trump said. "So he did it many times to me during the debate. He violated the deal. That's the deal, because you can take anything and try and make up stories with it. We had a deal where that wouldn't happen."
Trump also criticized co-moderator Linsey Davis, who provided the first fact-check of the debate against him.
Trump Slams ABC Debate, Accusing Network of Breaking Agreement
"I never heard of her. I never want to hear of her. She was terrible. I don't know how she ever got her job in the first place," Trump said. "But we have a country to save, and we can't have fake news like that. And his ratings deserve to go down."
ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Trump Slams ABC Debate, Accusing Network of Breaking Agreement
Trump's accusations have been met with skepticism from some observers, who argue that it is not uncommon for moderators to fact-check claims made by candidates during debates. However, Trump's supporters have rallied behind him, accusing ABC News of bias against the former president.
The debate sparked widespread criticism from conservative commentators, who accused Muir and Davis of hostile treatment of Trump while going easy on Harris. Trump later expressed regret for not confronting the moderators more forcefully during the event.
Trump has yet to commit to a second debate against Harris. The former president initially declined a CNN debate set for Oct. 23 that Harris had accepted, saying it was "too late" since early voting had already begun. However, Trump has left the door open for another showdown.
"Maybe if I got in the right mood," Trump told Fox News' Aishah Hasnie.
Harris appears eager to debate Trump again, but she previously declined proposed debates by Fox News and NBC News that Trump had agreed to prior to the ABC News debate.
