‘FACILITATE A DISCUSSION’

ABC News Won’t Commit to Fact-Checking During Harris-Trump Debate

ABC News’s political director said that “the debate belongs to the candidates” in response to questions from The New York Times over the effort to fact-check.

As questions swirl over how many false statements will be uttered during the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on Tuesday night, ABC News isn’t committing its moderators to do the job of fact-checking. Instead, the network insists the “the debate belongs to the candidates.” Rick Klein, ABC News’s political director and a lead organizer of Tuesday’s debate, said in an interview with the The New York Times that “we’re there to keep a conversation going, and to facilitate a good solid debate, and that entails a lot of things in terms of asking questions, moving the conversation along, making sure that it’s civilized.” Of moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis’ role in keeping the candidates honest, Klein said the pair were “there to facilitate a discussion” and that “the debate belongs to the candidates.” When pressed further by The Times over their role as moderators to fact-check, Klein said, “I don’t think it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ proposition. We’re not making a commitment to fact-check everything, or fact-check nothing, in either direction.”