Who won the first Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump? The American people. No, that sucks. Let’s take two on that. Who won the first debate? Democracy. Well, that’s just silly, and also incorrect. The real winner of the debate? The moderators.
Last night’s debate was co-moderated by World News Tonight host David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis. In between questions and unhinged answers, Muir and Davis actually chimed in with—get this—fact checking. It was fairly stunning, in a night full of stunning moments.
I don’t remember the last time someone tried to reign in the usual psychosis on display, especially with the debate between then-candidate President Joe Biden and Trump still fresh in our minds. The display on that stage in June wasn’t two competing visions for the country’s future. It was more akin to a grim, all-too-real example of what time does to the human brain: it turns it into mush.
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Moderators gonna moderate
It was a stark contrast to last night’s debate. There was still a good bit of good ol’ fashioned American mania on display in last night’s debate. It wouldn’t be a presidential election cycle without mention of the hungry horde of foreigners, smashing down the gates. But remember, everything is getting a little bit more stupid, everyday. This time, the xenophobia manifested into a fake story spread in right wing circles about Haitians eating cats and dogs.
“They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said, in a rant that’s been clipped, echoed, and memed to death across social media.
Muir chimed in, politely even, that ABC News had investigated this claim with authorities. The news giant found “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Trump later started to ramble about crime rates. How America in the Biden years has basically turned into the set of Death Wish III. Muir then chimed in with FBI statistics about crime going down steadily nationwide. This was quickly followed by Trump saying that the stats were fraudulent. Muir, in attempts to move things along, simply responded, “Thank you, President Trump.”
In an ideal world, where the League of Women Voters was still running debates, a moderator would act not only as a host, but as a referee. For as long as I can remember watching Presidential debates, moderators acted like referees, but not like the kind you see in football games or even boxing matches.
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Presidential debate moderators are more or less cock fighting referees. They ask their questions, and then allow both contenders to claw at each other until one of them wins. It’s a bloody spectacle, and it makes for great soundbites, after-debate spin room action, drawn out analysis from overpaid pundits, and other awful dreck brought to you by the 24-hour cable news content cycle.
Last night’s debate proved that you can feed this beast, while also kind of doing your job. Pressing candidates with a cogent followup or an instant fact check makes for much better television, even if one of the candidates isn’t a Billionaire reality show host who caught the dog.
The dog, some say, is currently being hunted by immigrants. Can we get a fact check on that?