(NewsNation) — Megyn Kelly said she wished ABC didn’t fact-check at all and believes the moderators “ganged up” on former President Donald Trump during his debate against VP Kamala Harris.
“ABC ought to be ashamed of themselves. They’re no longer a news organization,” Kelly said on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “All they did was run cover for Kamala Harris.”
Kelly referenced the moment when David Muir challenged Trump’s refusal to admit losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. Trump said he was being sarcastic in previous statements, to which Muir said, “I didn’t detect sarcasm.”
“David Muir thinks it’s appropriate to inject his opinion. … Who cares what you think? Your opinion is irrelevant. None of us care. That’s not a fact-check,” Kelly said.
NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt also said he felt as though the moderators went harder on Trump, a sentiment echoed by Republicans.
NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo asked Stirewalt to clarify his statement, asking, “Do you believe that they were helping Harris, or he requires more fact-checking because he is completely reckless with the truth on a regular basis more than anyone he’s ever on stage with?”
“A lot of Republicans tonight are going to take comfort from the fact that it was unfair, that it was rigged, that it was bad,” Stirewalt said.
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams added that if the GOP leans on calling out the referees, “That’s when you know you’re in trouble.”
“Trump still didn’t do what he had to do,” Abrams said.
Harris, Trump tied in predebate polls
The forum marked the first face-to-face matchup between Harris and Trump, who were neck and neck in predebate polls.
The latest polling from the New York Times/Siena College revealed Trump leads Harris by just a point. Three other polls posted within the past week — RMG Research/Napolitan News National Survey (+2), Outward Intelligence survey (+4) and Emerson College Polling (+4) — all reflected Harris leading Trump.
Harris maintained a 3.5-point lead nationally across all polls, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz and Devan Markham contributed to this report.