Donald Trump is making headlines again, this time for his vocal criticism of ABC News following his recent presidential debate with Kamala Harris. After the debate, which took place on Tuesday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to call for the dismissal of key figures at the network.
In his post from Wednesday evening, Trump expressed frustration at what he perceives as biased media coverage. He wrote, “People are just starting to give me credit for having a GREAT DEBATE. The Voters and Voter Polls showed it, but the Fake News Media wasn’t giving the credit that was due. Now they are seeing the results with independent Voters, Evangelicals, and more—and saying, WOW!”
He added, “Remember, I wasn’t debating one person, I was debating three. They should fire everybody at ABC Fake News, whose two lightweight ‘anchors’ have brought disgrace onto the company!”
Trump’s contentions center around what he describes as unfair fact-checking by anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. During the debate, he was fact-checked five times, while Harris faced no such scrutiny. One notable moment arose while discussing late-term abortion, where Trump made a claim about Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, supposedly condoning “execution after birth.” Moderator Davis quickly corrected him, stating, “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
In another incident during the debate, Trump repeated a viral claim about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, supposedly harming pets. Co-moderator Muir responded by clarifying, “He told us they had no credible reports of pets or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
Trump’s objections to these fact-checks included arguments based on anecdotal evidence he claims to have seen on TV, while dismissing Muir’s assertions as a “good thing to say for a city manager.” Throughout the debate, Muir fact-checked Trump multiple times on various claims, including assertions about rising crime rates and the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, citing that numerous court cases found no widespread fraud.
In a further jab at Harris’s performance, Trump shared a quote from Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt, who suggested that Harris failed to articulate why voters should place their trust in her. Trump echoed these sentiments in his post, stating, “The onus is completely on her…and she failed to do it last night!”
To reinforce his claims of a debate victory, Trump shared several screenshots of polls from conservative news outlets like Newsmax and The Daily Caller, which reported that a significant majority of respondents believed he had emerged victorious.