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Commission on Prez Debates Co-Chair: ABC Moderators ‘Bent Backwards to Help’ Harris, ‘Worst’ I’ve Seen

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Commission on Presidential Debates Co-Founder and Co-Chair Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., who also was Chair of the Republican National Committee, declared that the performance by ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis was “the worst performance that I’ve seen.”

During an interview on Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” Fahrenkopf Jr. said the moderators were “clearly were oversized, I think, on the way they treated” 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and “bent backwards to help” 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I thought one of the things that really shocked me last night was the way the moderators handled it. We always explain to our moderators, and we’ve done 33 of those, Greta, starting back in 1988, that their job is to be facilitators,” Fahrenkopf Jr. said.

“They’re not to get involved themselves. It’s different than if you had someone on your show and you asked them a question and they answered it in a different way than they said a month before, you would correct them. But moderators are not supposed to do that. A debate is between the candidates, not a debate between the candidate and the moderators,” he added.

Fahrenkopf Jr. continued, “And these moderators, so far as I was concerned, it was the worst performance that I’ve seen. And I’ve — as I said, I’ve done 33 of these things over the years. I don’t know what their thoughts were, but they clearly were oversized, I think, on the way they treated the former President and the way they treated the present Vice President, I think they bent backwards to help her.”

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WATCH:

The mainstream media largely praised Vice President Kamala Harris for her performance in the debate on Tuesday night, but the battle to win over undecided voters might not be over yet.

Several American viewers of the televised debate told Reuters that they are still not convinced that the Democrat is the better candidate.

The publication invited ten respondents who claimed they were still unsure about the November 5th election to watch the ninety-minute debate and then provide their feedback. Six voters declared they would definitely or most likely vote for Trump, compared to three who supported Harris and one who was unsure, in a startling reversal of what may be expected.

Many more stated that before they would contemplate voting for Harris, she must be significantly more serious about covering the costs of her expensive priorities.

With regard to addressing the exorbitant costs of housing and household goods, five respondents characterized the veep as “vague.”

“I still don’t know what she is for,” said Mark Kadish, 61, an entrepreneur in Florida. “There was no real meat and bones for her plans.” Robert Wheeler, 48, a security firm executive in Nevada who was previously leaning toward Harris, said her posturing and platitudes left him feeling more committed to voting for Trump who he said has actually proposed tangible policies to back up his promises. “I felt like the whole debate was Kamala Harris telling me why not to vote for Donald Trump instead of why she’s the right candidate,” Wheeler said.

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The focus group, consisting of four women and six men, with eight White and two Black participants, is representative of varied segments of the undecided voter population in battleground states, despite the small sample size.

In addition, red flags were raised on Wednesday morning when more indecisive voters started telling reporters they weren’t that impressed with the vice president, despite claims from commentators and mainstream media that Harris had won the debate handily.

Except for a few remarks regarding the tax advantages for small enterprises and working families, Harris mainly sidestepped the chance to address specific questions.

She might regret using that tactic given that the campaign was exposed a few days prior for stealing whole policy sections from President Joe Biden’s website. Her website no longer lists her previous opinions, which included funding gender change surgery for convicts and immigrants and decriminalizing all hard drugs.

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