XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, mn.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: X@Y.com   
      
   Presidential debates are often miserable affairs, but ever since Donald   
   Trump brought his constant stream of lies to the political scene in 2016,   
   they’ve become simply unwatchable. Why? Because so often, moderators   
   aren’t able to (or choose not to) do basic fact-checking and challenge   
   his false claims in real time. But during Tuesday’s first debate between   
   Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris, ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey   
   Davis actually held the former president to account — and it was   
   wonderful to watch.   
      
   Trump’s reputation precedes him: During his four years in office, the   
   former president told more than 30,500 lies, or an average of about 21   
   false claims daily, according to the Washington Post. He hasn’t slowed   
   down since leaving office, which makes fact-checking him a tall order.   
      
   But Muir and Davis rose to the task on Tuesday, first jumping in when   
   Trump claimed that abortions occur after birth in some states. Davis   
   called him out and corrected the record: Infanticide is illegal in every   
   state. Then when the former president spouted a racist conspiracy theory   
   about immigrants to the city of Springfield, Ohio, stealing and eating   
   locals’ pets, Muir noted the city manager has confirmed those claims,   
   which have been amplified by high-profile Republicans, are entirely   
   false. And when Trump brought up some skewed crime statistics in an   
   attempt to ding Harris, Muir corrected him, too.   
      
   While Trump loves to accuse mainstream news outlets like ABC News of   
   bias, the moderators did hold Harris’s feet to the fire, too, asking her   
   to account for why she’s changed her positions on fracking and health   
   care since her 2020 presidential-primary campaign. Muir and Davis barely   
   had to fact-check Harris, though, because she doesn’t lie as furiously as   
   Trump does.   
      
   The anchors’ involvement was a welcome change from the disastrous debate   
   between Trump and President Joe Biden in June, when CNN moderators Dana   
   Bash and Jake Tapper did not attempt to correct either candidate. Trump’s   
   strategy has always been to drown the public in falsehoods to obfuscate   
   his policy positions and scare the American people. This time, he wasn’t   
   able to get away with it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)