In the aftermath of the recent debate between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and GOP contender Donald Trump, Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr, co-founder and co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, expressed his disappointment with the ABC News moderators' conduct.<
Fahrenkopf accused them of favoring Harris, stating they "bent backwards to help" her.
According to The Post Millennial, Fahrenkopf voiced his concerns on Newsmaxs The Record, saying, "I thought one of the things that really shocked me last night was the way the moderators handled it." He emphasized that the role of a moderator is to facilitate, not to become personally involved. "A debate is between the candidates, not a debate between the candidate and the moderators," Fahrenkopf, who served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1983 to 1989, asserted.
Fahrenkopf further criticized the moderators for their treatment of the candidates, stating, "I dont know what their thoughts were, but they clearly were oversized, I think, on the way they treated the former President and the way they treated the present Vice President, I think they bent backwards to help her." He described the moderators' performance as the worst he had seen in his extensive experience with debates.
These comments from the Commission founder precede those of Mark Penn, a former top adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, who called for an internal investigation into the ABC debate. Penn questioned whether the network's news department intentionally influenced the debate's outcome.
Penn expressed his concerns, saying, "I actually think they should do a full internal investigation, hire an outside law firm. I don't know how much of this was planned in advance." He further questioned the network's communication with the Harris campaign, suggesting that an independent party should review all internal texts and emails to determine the extent of any potential bias. "I think the situation demands nothing less than that," he concluded.
The debate's aftermath has thus been marked by controversy and calls for transparency, with key figures questioning the impartiality of the moderators and the integrity of the process. As the nation awaits the outcome of these investigations, the focus remains on ensuring a fair and balanced platform for political discourse.
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