For some reason, CBS thinks that not fact-checking the Vice Presidential candidates' debate is a good idea.
Lying is a core strategy of the Trump-Vance ticket. JD Vance unabashedly says he'll create stories to gain attention, and Donald Trump is Donald Trump. Not fact-checking them is irresponsible and only allows them to say later, "I heard it on TV."
The Associated Press reports that moderators Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan of CBS will not point out the candidates' inaccuracies during the 90-minute debate, scheduled to take place in New York City at 9 p.m. Eastern. Instead, the network says the candidates can fact-check each other and that its misinformation unit, consisting of about 20 people, will provide real-time fact-checking during the debate in an online live blog and on-air afterwards.
The network's plan garnered extensive, immediate criticism from reporters and press watchers alike. Some journalists accused CBS of failing to live up to its mission, while others charged that they were bowing to Trump's camp, which attacked ABC News moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir for pointing out Trump's many lies in his debate earlier this month against Kamala Harris. Trump falsely claimed, for example, that Democrats execute babies after they're born and that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating peoples' house pets. Following the debate, CNN reported that Harris lied once, about the historical significance of the unemployment rate under Trump, while Trump lied more than 30 times.
MOTHER JONES
Previously:
• JD Vance's ugly, disrespectful debate challenge
