CNN hosted a fact-free debate. The losers are U.S. voters

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Former President Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Well, that was awful.

I think I speak for millions of citizens who would rather not live under a deranged dictator when I say that watching the first presidential debate was an agonizing experience.

Biden fulfilled the caricature of a dodderer who lacks vigor and mental acuity, speaking in a weak voice, coughing, mixing up names and giving answers that devolved into jumbled word salad. At one point he inexplicably abandoned what should be his strongest subject (the rollback of abortion rights) to dwell on crimes committed by immigrants — serving up red meat for Trump, who was delighted to pounce on his favorite false narrative that Biden has facilitated a massive influx of violent criminals pouring across the southern border.

Los Angeles humor writer Drew Janda summed it up well on X:

“Biden: look, the fact is, we can’t… we don’t… look. Here’s the deal. And this is no foolin’.

Trump: there are ten billion Guatemalans attacking the Lincoln Memorial right now.”

Trump lied fluidly. Politifact’s live fact-checkers went into overdrive trying to keep up with all the falsehoods he spewed.

But the absolute worst performance of the night came from CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who gave Trump a complete pass on all those whoppers.

When Trump claimed that “every reasonable anchor” has debunked the story that there was a riot by violent white supremacists in Charlottesville, anchor Jake Tapper said only,  “Thank you, President Trump” and moved on.

The moderators gave the same response when Trump said that the federal government was behind his felony convictions in the New York hush money trial — a state-level prosecution in state court that had no connection to the Biden administration or federal prosecutors.

They gave the same response to Trump’s preposterous claim that “everybody wanted” Roe v. Wade overturned and that before it was overturned, Democrats were allowing “after-birth” abortions.

Trump also lied repeatedly about sanctioning the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, saying that he had nothing to do with it and that he tried to send in 10,000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol. The violence committed by his supporters was all Nancy Pelosi’s fault, he said, because she didn’t accept his offer of help, and, he added, she has admitted as much in a documentary film.

As Politifact’s fact-checkers explained, it’s a lie Trump has rehearsed many times: “This remains False. In a brief video, Pelosi said, ‘I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more,’ referring to U.S. Capitol security, not the National Guard. No member of Congress has the authority to activate the District of Columbia National Guard. Only the president, defense secretary and U.S. Army secretary do. Records show that Pelosi approved a Jan. 6, 2021, request to seek support from the National Guard and pushed to get National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol when their deployment was delayed by hours that day.”

Those examples barely scratch the surface of the nonstop 90 minutes of lies spewed by Trump — about the economy (which was far from “the greatest in history” in the Trump administration — wages and GDP went down), jobs numbers (which have improved dramatically under Biden), the spike in border crossings (which started on Trump’s watch, not Biden’s), crime (which has gone down, not up, under Biden) and the “pants on fire” claim that “millions of immigrants” have come to the U.S. illegally from “jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions.” Giving Trump a platform to spread hate and lies and providing no check whatsoever was a gross dereliction of journalistic duty by CNN.

As much as the debate worried Democrats and progressives, who watched a glib, invigorated Trump appear to chew up a wan-looking Biden, that impression was made much, much worse by a journalistic outlet that let Trump lie and get away with it.

Biden got in a few good jabs. “I’ve never heard a president talk like this before,” he said, pointing out how Trump has disparaged U.S. veterans, called the U.S. a country in decline and pledged to use the power of the federal government to go after his political enemies.

Biden spoke honestly, if softly. But it should have fallen to the moderators to hold the candidates accountable.

If the press can’t do that now, as a convicted felon runs for the presidency, soon it will be too late.

Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and X.

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