While objectively not as bad a ABC’s presidential debate three weeks ago, which should go down as the worst debate performance by the moderators in U.S. history, CBS’s vice presidential debate Tuesday night didn’t fare much better. Liberal moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell were so desperate to make Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) look bad, that they repeatedly broke the rules of the debate to fact-check him. And their so-called fact-checks were so wrong that Vance had to call them out for it.
That’s not to mention the completely slanted and combative questions flung at the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Seemingly added in response to the unprofessionalism of the ABC moderators, CBS News agreed that they would not fact-check either candidate and would leave it up to the debaters to do that. But throughout the debate, the moderators either offered up fact-checks against Vance or fact-checks disguised as questions to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-MN):
O’DONNELL: The overwhelming consensus among scientists is that the Earth's climate is warming at an unprecedented rate. Margaret.
(…)
BRENNAN: Governor, do you care to respond to any of those specific allegations? Including that the Vice President is, quote, “letting in fentanyl” and using kids as drug mules about other things regarding children.
Things came to a head when Brennan delivered a dubious fact-check overlooking how the asylum process was being abused by illegal immigrants. Vance spoke up to lay out the real facts of how the system was being manipulated, ultimately leading to O’Donnell to cutting off his microphone (Click “expand”):
BRENNAN: Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status. Norah.
VANCE: Margaret.
BRENNAN: Senator, we have so much to get to.
VANCE: Margaret, I think it’s important.
O’DONNELL: We are going to turn now to the economy. Thank you.
VANCE: The rules were that you guys were not going to fact-check. And since you’re fact-checking me, I think it's important to say what's actually going on.
So, there is an application called the CBP1 app, were you can go as an illegal migrant, apply for asylum or apply for parole and be granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand. It's not a person coming in and applying for a green card and waiting for ten years.
BRENNAN: Thank you, Senator.
VANCE: That is the facilitation of illegal immigration, Margaret, by our own leadership.
BRENNAN: Thank you for describing the legal process. We have so much to get to, senator.
VANCE: And Kamala Harris opened up that pathway.
Gov. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Those laws have been on the books since 1990.
BRENNAN: Thank you, gentlemen.
VANCE: The CBP1 app has not been on the books since 1990. [O’Donnell cuts microphone] It’s something that Kamala Harris created, Margaret.
BRENNAN: Gentlemen. The audience can't hear you because your mics are cut. We have so much we want to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process.
On top of the false fact checks came the slanted questions. According to NewsBusters analysts, there were 12 questions with a left-leaning slant, 16 neutral, and five from the right.
One of the right-leaning questions was a rather pointed on from O’Donnell to Walz about why Americans trust Trump on the most important issue of the election. “Governor Walz, can you address that? I mean, voters say they trust Donald Trump on the economy more. Why?” she asked.
She also pointed out that a majority of Americans agreed with Trump’s calls for mass deportations: “Governor, what about our CBS News polling which does show that a majority of Americans, more than 50 percent support mass deportations?”
Of course, several of the left-leaning questions were largely about painting a possible Trump presidency in as negative a light as possible with the most ridiculous and dystopian accusations:
BRENNAN: Senator, the question was, “with you separate appearance from their children even if their kids are U.S. citizens?”
(…)
O’DONNELL: Senator, do you want to respond to the Governor’s claim? Will you create a federal pregnancy monitoring agency?
And they repeatedly tried to drive a wedge between Vance and Trump, something that wasn’t done for Walz and Vice President Harris:
BRENNAN: Senator Vance, the U.S. did have a diplomatic deal with Iran to temporarily pause parts of its nuclear program and President Trump did exit that deal. He recently said, just five days ago, the U.S. must now make a diplomatic deal with Iran because the consequences are impossible. Did he make a mistake?
(…)
BRENNAN: President Trump recently said "As much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it's - relatively speaking - not very expensive compared to the kinds of numbers we'll be taking in." Is President Trump committed to the $5,000-per child tax credit that you have described?
And just because a question was neutral didn’t mean it wasn’t combative. Like this sharky question from Brennan to Vance asking if he knew how Congress worked:
The Governor has made the point and I think as a sitting lawmaker, you know that Congress controls the purse strings and funding. So, you have said repeatedly that Donald Trump would, through executive action, solve this. Do you disagree that Congress controls the purse strings and would need to support many of the changes that you would actually want to implement?
But despite essentially going up against three opponents much like Trump did, Vance still seemed to have pulled off a W.
