Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., co-founder and co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, told Newsmax on Friday that ABC's presidential debate moderators failed to follow proper debating procedures by fact-checking the candidates.
Fahrenkopf told "Wake Up America" that former President Donald Trump made a "mistake" by agreeing to use the same debate rules that were arranged with President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign in his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
Fahrenkopf said live fact-checking by moderators went against the commission's traditions.
"We tell our moderators, that's not your job," Fahrenkopf said. "This is a debate, the other person is supposed to correct them. ... ABC and the moderators decided they were going to go their own way."
Fahrenkopf said that ABC's moderators "cut off any real debate between the two candidates" and accused them of being "so biased."
"I've never seen anything like it in my life … having done 33 of these things since 1988," he said.
Fahrenkopf added: "All the rules for this debate were originally put together by the Biden campaign and then adopted by the vice president and I think it was a mistake … for Donald Trump and the campaign to agree to the rules that had been set in motion by the Biden people."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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