CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan faced a critical decision ahead of today’s vice-presidential debate: Should they fact-check candidates’ statements in real-time or take a more passive approach, allowing the candidates to correct each other? Ultimately, they opted for a middle ground, stating that their role was to provide candidates the opportunity to fact-check one another, while occasionally interjecting with factual information, often not directly in response to candidates’ comments.
A notable moment unfolded when Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz engaged in a heated exchange about Haitian immigrants in Ohio, leading to the debate’s most significant fact-check and a dramatic turn of events. Vance, discussing immigration, referenced Springfield, Ohio, expressing concern for locals whose lives, he claimed, had been negatively impacted by “Kamala Harris’s open border.” He asserted that overwhelmed schools, hospitals, and unaffordable housing were consequences of an influx of illegal immigrants.
Following Vance’s comments, Brennan interjected with a clarification for viewers, stating, “And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status.” Vance immediately objected, saying, “Margaret, the rules were that you were not going to fact-check, and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.”
Despite Brennan’s attempts to move on, Vance continued to explain the process by which Haitian immigrants could obtain Temporary Protected Status. As their exchange grew increasingly contentious, moderators cut off their microphones, prompting Brennan to remind the candidates, “The audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut. We have so much we want to get to.”
Reactions to the moderators’ fact-checking varied. Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to criticize the moderators, claiming, “Margaret Brennan just ‘fact checked’ JD, incorrectly, on ‘Climate Change.’” He accused the moderators of unfairly favoring the Democratic candidate and labeling them as “FAKE NEWS!” Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host turned conservative podcaster, expressed her outrage on social media, stating, “F you CBS – how DARE YOU.”
On Fox News, political analyst Brit Hume echoed this sentiment, saying the moderators appeared to be biased against Vance, while Laura Ingraham criticized the questions as designed to undermine Republican candidates. However, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, Jason Miller, acknowledged the moderators’ approach, saying, “I did not like the way they went back on their word on the fact-check front, but I thought Sen. Vance masterfully handled that situation and was able to set the record straight.”
