2 weeks Ago
Claim: Rating: About this rating False Following the ABC News U.S. presidential debate on Sept.
10, 2024, the conservative blog Chicks on the Right published an article claiming that one of the network's two debate moderators — anchor Linsey Davis — said she and her co-moderator, David Muir, planned in advance to fact-check only statements by former President Donald Trump. The Sept. 17 blog post displayed the headline, "ABC Moderator Linsey Davis Admits: 'Fact-checking' Was Only Planned for Trump.
" In other words, the post asserted that during preparation for the debate, it was decided that the moderators would not fact-check any statements by Vice President Kamala Harris. The claim was not true, however, as we will demonstrate below: First, the Facts The Chicks on the Right post included information sourced from a Sept. 13 Fox News story.
That story sourced its material from a Los Angeles Times article published on Sept. 11 — the day after the debate. The Times' story featured an interview with Davis, as well as a profile of her career.
Notably, the Chicks on the Right story omitted some information from the Times' interview with Davis, mainly the reporting that Davis said she and Muir carefully studied "each candidate's body of work ahead of time" in order to nail the facts during questions or post-answer clarifications (emphasis ours): Davis acknowledged that she and Muir could not nail every misstatement. But they did study each candidate's body of work ahead of time and had an idea of what to expect. "Politicians tend to say the same things again and again," Davis said.
To prepare, Davis, a 17-year ABC News veteran,...
Jordan Liles.
