In a wild moment during the Tuesday, October 1 vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, Senator and 2024 Trump running mate JD Vance had to fact-check the fact-checkers and call out co-moderator Margaret Brennan when she, against the rules of the debate, fact-checked him and made, some on the right argued, a misleading argument about the Haitians in Ohio.
As background, CBS announced before the debate that moderators would not attempt to call out or fact-check false claims during the debate and would instead utilize live fact-checking on its website. During the debate, however, Brennan interrupted Vance, saying, “Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status.”
Sen. Vance then shot back at Brennan, snapping, “The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check. And since you are fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.” Sen. Vance then described the actual legal process for obtaining the legal status Brennan described, connecting it to a Harris-backed immigration policy.
Brennan talked over him and snidely said, “Senator, we have so much we have to get to, thank you so much for explaining the legal process.” Then, the network cut off Sen. Vance’s microphone and Brennan, as he tried to explain his position, said, “The audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut.”
Watch the incident here:
Predictably, the right-leaning segment of the internet, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), skewered CBS News in the wake of the incident. For example, the End Wokeness X account drew attention to the incident in a post that garnered well over 5 million impressions, saying, “HOLY SH!T JD Vance demolishes the moderators for lying to the audience. CBS mutes him.”
Responding to End Wokeness, commenters agreed. They said things like, “I love this move so much. The fake news is trash,” “They cut his mic for telling the truth and explaining CBS’s BS fact-check on Kamala Harris’s so-called “legal” Haitian immigrants. Unreal,” and “He learned from Trump’s experience. He was impressively bold, fighting back.”
Another commenter said, “The bias in the vice presidential debate on CBS News is glaringly obvious. Both moderators are clearly favoring Tim Walz, giving him softer questions and repeatedly fact-checking JD Vance, while allowing Walz’s statements to go unchallenged. It’s a three-against-one setup, and it shows. Yet, despite the unfair playing field, JD Vance not only holds his ground but also shines through with more articulate, intelligent, and convincing arguments. At one point, Vance even called out the moderators for misleading the audience, only to have CBS mute him. It’s clear this debate is rigged, but Vance’s superior performance speaks for itself.”
Also joining in the CBS News bashing was conservative personality Benny Johnson, who posted, also on X, “Extremely awkward moment for CBS as Vance fact-checks them live on national TV. Kamala is using an app to help illegal migrants obtain legal status once they cross the border. They can’t hide the truth from the American people.”
Similarly, Joe Concha said, also skewering CBS, “CBS breaks its promise not to fact-check. Twice. Vance finally is having none of it and fact-checks Margaret Brennan on her fact-check. CBS cuts the mic. This is as bad as the ABC debate. What a joke. All of that said, Vance is owning the stage. This isn’t even close.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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