On Wednesday morning, following his poor showing in the previous night’s presidential debate, Donald Trump called for ABC’s broadcast license to be rescinded after debate moderators fact-checked some of his numerous lies.
“I think ABC took a big hit last night,” he complained during a call to Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program. “I mean, to be honest, they’re a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
Trump also claimed, “It was three-to-one. It was a rigged deal.”
During Tuesday’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Trump offered up several falsehoods that required ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis to correct the record. Trump falsely claimed that Democrats support the post-birth murder of babies, alleged that Haitian migrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets, and that violent crime is up. In real time, the moderators corrected these lies in a startling break from how past moderators of town halls and debates have handled Trump.
As the debate progressed, Trump allies quickly began to assert that the moderators had teamed up with Harris against the Republican nominee.
“These moderators are a disgraceful failure and this is one of the most biased, unfair debates I have ever seen. Shame on you ABC,” former Fox News anchor and conservative pundit Megyn Kelly wrote on X.
Kari Lake, the GOP’s Senate candidate in Arizona, wrote, “Moderators always make sure to make bogus ‘corrections’ for Trump after he makes a point. The fake news is the enemy of the people.”
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said, “It is laughable how ABC choreographed this to help VP Harris but it isn’t working because it is so obvious.”
Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity also complained about the debate moderators purportedly being biased against Trump.
Asked on “Fox & Friends” if he would participate in another debate, Trump said he would be “less inclined,” asserting that he had “a great night” and “won the debate” despite a “terrible network.”
Immediate assessments of the debate show a far more negative view of Trump’s performance.
A CNN/SSRS snap poll of registered voters who watched the debate showed that Harris delivered the superior performance, 63% to 37%. Similarly, a Washington Post panel of 25 undecided swing-state voters found that Harris performed better than Trump, 23 to 2.
Even some in Trump’s corner admitted he fared poorly. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, said the debate was a “disaster” and that the team that prepared Trump for it should be fired.
“Make no mistake about it: Trump had a bad night,” Fox News commentator Brit Hume said on the network’s post-debate broadcast.
Demonstrating the paucity of positive reviews, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform a graphic from the Republican National Committee declaring him “reigning presidential debate champion” very early on Wednesday morning.
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