ABC News has refuted the sensational claims of collusion between the debate moderators and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign. "Absolutely not," an ABC News representative told the Daily Beast, adding, "Harris was not given any questions before the debate."
The network also said that none of Harris' aides had any contact with debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis prior to the Tuesday night showdown in Philadelphia. Former President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters have fueled conspiracy theories, suggesting Harris had an unfair advantage during the event. Trump slammed the presidential debate as "unfair" and "rigged," and suggested that Harris had been tipped off about the questions in advance.
ABC News Clears the Air
"I watched her talk, and I said, 'You know, she seems awfully familiar with the questions,'" Trump told Fox News' "Fox & Friends", hours after the debate.
On Thursday, a website called Leading Report claimed an ABC News whistleblower was "allegedly" preparing to release an affidavit saying that Harris' campaign had been given sample questions in advance, along with "assurances" that Trump would be fact-checked in real time, according to the Daily Beast.
However, a source familiar with the situation denied the accuracy of these claims.
During the debate, moderators Muir and Davis did fact-check Trump on some of his more outlandish claims, including claims that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating people's pets and that abortions were being performed after babies were born.
They also allowed Harris to counter Trump's false statement that she had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to which Trump said that she was such a poor negotiator that Putin invaded Ukraine soon after. This series of fact-checks struck Trump's allies as biased.
Trump and Republicans Not Convinced
The 45th president and his campaign team have consistently claimed that his Democratic opponent received an unfair edge during their first — and likely only — presidential debate earlier this week.
Following the debate, Trump wasted no time slamming ABC and the moderators for frequently fact-checking and disproving his statements, arguing that the event felt like a "three against one" situation.
"It was three-on-one. They continued to engage in so-called fact-checking of Donald Trump. They never did that to Kamala Harris," Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said after the debate, according to Politico.
During the televised debate, Trump was fact-checked by the moderators at least five times.
In contrast, Harris was allowed to speak without interruption throughout the entire 90-minute event.
