Trump’s Biggest Debate Opponents Are The Media, Not Biden

CNN cut the microphone of Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Monday after she correctly pointed out the network’s debate moderators’ long history of anti-Trump bias — proving the former president’s biggest opponent during the Thursday presidential debate isn’t President Joe Biden, but the media.

CNN’s Kasie Hunt first asked Leavitt “what Donald Trump is going to do differently on the debate stage,” before asking Leavitt what she expects from Biden.

“It would take someone five minutes to google ‘Jake Tapper, Donald Trump’ to see that Jake Tapper has —,” Leavitt said, referencing that the debate would be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, before Hunt cut her off.

“Ma’am, we’re gonna stop this interview if you’re gonna keep attacking my colleagues,” Hunt said.

“— for example, consistently likened Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler,” Leavitt continued.

“Ma’am, I’m gonna stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt said. “I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who you work for. If you are here to speak on his behalf, I’m willing to have this conversation.”

“I am stating facts that your colleagues have stated in the past. Now, as for this debate —” Leavitt tried to say before her mic was cut and Hunt ended the interview.

Hunt said Leavitt could rejoin the show if she would answer the question about the debate.

Leavitt later posted to X that the point she was trying to make — and succeeded in doing — is that Trump would “not be treated fairly on Thursday” by the network.

CNN’s decision to abruptly remove Leavitt from the air for factually noting Tapper’s anti-Trump bias (including his comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler) effectively sent the message that the truth would be silenced at all costs. Should Trump say something entirely factual that...

And it's too much for one person to do: moderate the timekeeping and rules, ask the question, listen to the answer, follow up with other questions.

It's better to let the moderate focus on moderating while the panelists focus on the questions and answers.

Case in point: Chris Wallace moderating the third debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

With time running out, Wallace asked Trump if he'd accept the results of the election.

Wallace: Mr. Trump, I want to ask you about one last question in this topic. You’ve been warning at rallies recently that this election is rigged and that Hillary Clinton is in the process of trying to steal it from you. Your running mate Governor Pence pledged on Sunday that he and you, his words, will absolutely accept the result of this election. Today your daughter Ivanka said the same thing. I want to ask you here on the stage tonight, do you make the same commitment that you’ll absolutely accept the result of the election.
Trump: I will look at it at the time. I’m not looking at anything now, I’ll look at it at the time. What I’ve seen, what I’ve seen, is so bad. First of all, the media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile on is so amazing. “The New York Times” actually wrote an article about it, but they don’t even care. It is so dishonest, and they have poisoned the minds of the voters. But unfortunately for them, I think the voters are seeing through it. I think they’re going to see through it, we’ll find out on November 8th, but I think they’re going to see through it. If you look --
Wallace: But, but --
Trump: Excuse me, Chris. If you look at your voter rolls, you will see millions of people that are registered to vote. Millions. This isn’t coming from me. This is coming from Pew report and other places. Millions of people that are registered to vote that shouldn’t be registered to vote. So let me just give you one other thing. I talk about the corrupt media. I talk about the millions of people. I’ll tell you one other thing. She shouldn’t be allowed to run. It’s -- She’s guilty of a very, very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run, and just in that respect I say it’s rigged because she should never --
Wallace: But, but --
Trump: Chris. She should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with e-mails and so many other things.
Wallace: But, sir, there is a tradition in this country, in fact, one of the prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power and no matter how hard fought a campaign is that at the end of the campaign, that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying you’re necessarily going to be the loser or the winner, but that the loser concedes to the winner and the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying you’re not prepared now to commit to that principle?
Trump: What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, okay?
Clinton: Well Chris, let me respond to that because that’s horrifying. You know, every time Donald thinks things aren’t going in his direction, he claims whatever it is, is rigged against him. The FBI conducted a yearlong investigation into my e-mails. They concluded there was no case. He said the FBI was rigged. He lost the Iowa caucus, he lost the Wisconsin primary, he said the Republican primary was rigged against him. Then, Trump University gets sued for fraud and racketeering. He claims the court system and the federal judge is rigged against him. There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged against him.
Trump: Should have gotten it.
(Laughter)
Clinton: This is a mind-set. This is how Donald thinks, and it’s funny, but it’s also really troubling. That is not the way our democracy works. We’ve been around for 240 years. We’ve had free and fair elections. We’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election. You know, President Obama said the other day when you’re whining before the game is even finished--
(Applause)
Wallace: Hold on, folks.
Clinton:-- It just shows you’re not up to doing the job. And let’s be clear about what he’s saying and what that means. He’s denigrating, he is talking down our democracy. And I, for one, am appalled that somebody who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position.
Trump: I think what the FBI did and what the Department of Justice did, including meeting with her husband, the Attorney General, in the back of an airplane on the tarmac in Arizona, I think it’s disgraceful. I think it’s a disgrace.
Wallace: All right.
Trump: I think we’ve never had a situation so bad
(Applause)
Wallace: Hold on, folks. This doesn’t do any good for anyone. Let’s please continue the debate and let’s move onto the subject of foreign hotspots...

The next day Wallace said that he lost track and "forgot" to ask Clinton the same question.

To this day, President Trump is still being hounded over accepting the results of elections while Clinton is still acting as if she were the true winner in 2016.

This is what happens when debates are not conducted with separation of responsibilities. Moderating debates has become an exercise in ego management, not debate management. It's time to go back to the old ways of having a dedicated panel of questioners separate from the moderation of the debate.

-PJ

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