In what might have been one of the most surprising parts of the reaction to the Tuesday, October 1 debate between Senator and 2024 Trump running mate JD Vance and Minnesota Governor and 2024 Kamala Harris running mate Tim Walz, former CNN personality Chris Cuomo sounded off on CBS News for how its moderators, particularly Margaret Brennan, treated JD Vance during the debate.
Particularly at issue online in the wake of the debate was a moment in which co-moderator Margaret Brennan, despite rules for the debate to the contrary, fact-checked JD Vance on air during the debate, then the network cut off Vance’s mic as he tried to respond to the comments pushed by Brennan and call her out on breaking the rules to which everyone agreed.
In that exchange, Brennan said, “Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status.” Vance fired back, “Margaret, 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.”
Chris Cuomo, sounding off on the matter when speaking on News Nation, first introduced what happened by noting that the moderators wouldn’t let Vance correct what Brennan said, Cuomo said, “When they were talking, at one point Vance wanted to correct something about how Haitians got into this country and he was right and the moderators wouldn’t let him correct it. It’s very interesting.”
Continuing, Cuomo argued that Sen. Vance was right about the issue and that the moderators should have let him speak, particularly as there was no schedule they ought have had other than letting the candidates speak. He said, “Vance was right, okay? There’s nuance to it, but the bigger problem is why he was moved on? ‘We’ve got so much to get to.’ Says who? What is the schedule here? You have a list of topics? That’s not what this is about.”
Building on that, Cuomo argued that the debate shouldn’t have moved on from the matter and instead let the candidates explain what they see as going on. He said, “It’s about how the American people can access these two men and the two theories and the narratives and you’ve got to let them have their speak.” Watch Cuomo here:
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Commenting on the matter in a post on X (formerly Twitter), one person said, “Chris Cuomo gets it. When the moderators act like activists, the truth doesn’t stand a chance. JD Vance wasn’t just right—he was exposing the uncomfortable facts the media desperately tries to bury. America sees through the spin.” Replying, another wrote, “I can’t believe Cuomo of all people is the most sensible guy in the room 😂”
Similarly, another commenter argued that Cuomo is right, as the moderators were obviously quite biased against Vance. That commenter said, “I hate Chris Cuomo but he is right on this. They weren’t as blatant as ABC and David Muir but it was bad. No wonder DJT refuses to do anymore debates. MSM doesn’t deserve the ratings they would get from him.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video