CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan had an important choice to make ahead of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate: would they directly fact check the candidates’ statements live in the moment? Or would they take a hands-off approach and let the candidates fact check each other?
O’Donnell and Brennan chose to thread the needle. At the top of the debate, the moderators said their role was “to provide the candidates with the opportunity to fact check claims made by each other” but they did occasionally make statements of fact, often not in direct response to a candidate’s comments. Other times, they’d lob up the opportunity for the opposing candidate to correct the record.
But the most direct fact-check of the night also led to the most dramatic moment on stage, upending what was otherwise a largely civil debate and leading the moderators to cut off the microphones of Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz during a contentious back-and-forth over Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
Early in the debate, Vance was answering a question about immigration when he brought up Springfield, Ohio, saying “he’s concerned about Americans there” who “have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border.”
“In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you’ve got housing that is totally unaffordable because we’ve brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said.
After Walz responded, Brennan jumped in to state the facts on the issue.
“And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.
Vance spoke up to complain about the fact check.
“Margaret, the rules were that you 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,” he protested.
Brennan tried to move on, but Vance continued to describe the process by which immigrants can apply for Temporary Protected Status that allowed Haitian immigrants to move to places such as Springfield.
After a few lines from Vance and an attempted interjection from Walz, the microphones were muted as the men continued talking over each other.
“The audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut,” Brennan told the candidates. “We have so much we want to get to.”
Last month, ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked former President Donald Trump during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, angering Trump and his right-wing media allies. That was again the case on Tuesday night, as Trump and some of his biggest media boosters expressed outrage over the moderators’ decision.
Margaret Brennan just ‘fact checked’ JD, incorrectly, on ‘Climate Change,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social after Brennan stated that scientists overwhelmingly agree the earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. “When is she going to fact check Tampon Tim on all of his false statements? Another repeat with the Fake News being unfair to the Republican Candidate, and trying to get the pathetic Democrat across the finish line. But it doesn’t matter, the Public sees it for what it is – FAKE NEWS!”
“Both young ladies have been extremely biased Anchors!” Trump raged in another post.
Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC host turned conservative podcaster, also assailed CBS for fact checking Vance’s claims. “F you CBS – how DARE YOU,” she wrote on X.
Over on Fox News, the issue was top of mind for Brit Hume, the right-wing outlet’s chief political analyst. “The moderators were obnoxious and made it seem like three on one on Vance,” he said.
Walz asked Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Hear how Vance responded
Fox primetime host and Trump booster, Laura Ingraham, added, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Republican so deftly maneuver what was smug and arrogant bias on the part of those moderators. Almost every question was designed to make Republicans look bad, slanting Trump’s views on childcare.”
But the Trump campaign itself didn’t seem too bothered by the moderators.
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, told CNN in the spin room after the debate: “I did not like that the way they went back on their word on the fact check front. But I thought Sen. Vance masterfully handled that situation and he was able to get his complete answer out and set the record straight.”