Media Pundits and Commentators Praise Debate Moderators, Condemn Trump for Bias Complaints

Following Wednesday's vice-presidential debate, numerous media pundits and commentators lauded the moderators for their performance while criticizing Donald Trump for his accusations of bias.

The vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, and President Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, elicited both praise and criticism from media pundits and commentators on Wednesday. While the debate was widely considered to be a victory for Harris, many pointed to the moderators' role in fact-checking Trump and not fact-checking Harris.

Media Pundits and Commentators Praise Debate Moderators, Condemn Trump for Bias Complaints

Left-leaning media pundits, in particular, praised the moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir, for their handling of the debate. Jonathan Lemire of Politico stated on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that "if you're showing up in the spin room, you've lost. If you're blaming the moderators, you've lost."

Dasha Burns of NBC News commented on the significance of Trump's immediate reaction to the debate. She noted that Trump traditionally went to the spin room only if he felt he had not performed well. She also highlighted that Trump and his team had spent a significant amount of time criticizing the moderators and the network rather than discussing their own candidate's performance.

Media Pundits and Commentators Praise Debate Moderators, Condemn Trump for Bias Complaints

CNN's Abby Phillip and former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin commended Muir and Davis for their fact-checking efforts. Puck News' Dylan Byers praised ABC for doing an "incredibly commendable job."

Former Biden-Harris campaign adviser Alencia Johnson expressed her admiration for the moderators' fact-checking, emphasizing that Harris appeared "presidential" during the debate. CNN's Bakari Sellers suggested that Trump's decision to blame the moderators stemmed from his humiliation in the debate.

Justin Baragona, a media columnist at Medhi Hasan's Zeteo, noted the similarity between Democrats blaming CNN moderators after the Biden-Trump debate in July and Trump's current complaints. He stated on social media, "If you're whining about the refs, you are losing."

Former CNN host Don Lemon also praised the moderators on social media, highlighting their impartiality. Fox News contributor Marie Harf cited a conservative writer's admission that "if we're complaining about the refs, we're losing."

CNN's Scott Jennings agreed that blaming the moderators was not a positive sign for Trump. He wrote in an op-ed for the LA Times that "you can't complain about the refs when you aren't making your own jump shots."

MSNBC's Brian Lowry wrote in a column that Davis and Muir performed better than CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash during the first debate between Biden and Trump. He commended their real-time fact-checking of Trump, who has a history of misrepresenting the truth.

Overall, the media pundits and commentators' reactions to the debate highlighted the importance of moderation and fact-checking in political discourse, particularly in the context of a candidate's performance during a debate.