Why a Former Clinton Pollster Was Disturbed by the ABC News Debate

It’s not just conservatives crying foul over the overt bias during ABC News’ debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Even a pollster for the Clintons was aghast at the spectacle, to the point where he thought the results should be tossed since it was clear that moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis put their finger on the scale. Mark Penn discussed his concerns on Fox News yesterday, adding that he felt the pair damaged the institution for presidential debates.

Penn is curious about what would have happened if the moderators pushed back on Harris’ lies, specifically the Charlottesville lie about “fine people” on “both sides,” which hangs like an albatross around Trump’s neck, though it’s been thoroughly debunked. Even Snopes, a left-wing outlet, said it was false after years of letting it marinade with the electorate. Instead, they gave Harris a pass, and Trump was forever put on the defensive in this debate.

'Finger On The Scale': Former Clinton Pollster Says ABC Hosts Put Future Debates 'In Jeopardy' pic.twitter.com/B6Yd76433s
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 12, 2024

“I think they did a real disservice to the voters of America when they did that,” said Penn.

He elaborated further in an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal:

She enlisted every charge ever leveled against Mr. Trump, regardless of the truth. That included, to name a few, the false claims that he favors a national abortion ban and opposes in vitro fertilization, that he called neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., “very fine people,” and that he threatened a “bloodbath” if he loses the election.
Each is untrue: Mr. Trump has made clear he opposes a national abortion ban. He favors IVF and has even said the government should pay for it. He condemned the Charlottesville neo-Nazis. And he predicted a financial “bloodbath” for the auto industry if he loses and the Biden-Harris electric-vehicle mandates progress.
Had the moderators turned to Ms. Harris after these lies and said, “That has been debunked,” we might be having a totally different conversation about the debate, given how she tends to react when challenged. We would be saying she was having a good night until she couldn’t help herself and went too far. Mr. Trump would have been freed from having to spend so much time defending himself against false charges, and the country would have gotten to hear more of his plans for America.
[…]
Time and again we find that supposedly neutral democratic institutions have been corrupted by bias. Debate moderators must check their biases and seek to be scrupulously fair, or they shouldn’t do the job. They should observe strict rules and come from a variety of networks. Most important, they shouldn’t interfere but rather trust voters to make their own decisions. ABC undermined the system for everyone.

LISTEN: Former top Clinton adviser Mark Penn calls on ABC to launch an investigation into whether debate was rigged.

Penn: ABC "should do a full internal investigation, hire an outside law firm. I don't know how much of this was planned in advance. ... I don't know what they… pic.twitter.com/TNupZ187mQ
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) September 13, 2024

I think the day after, suspicion here is really quite high, and I think a review of all their internal texts and emails really should be done by an independent party to find out to what extent they were planning on, in effect, you know, fact-checking just one candidate and in effect, rigging the outcome of this debate."
"I think the situation demands nothing less than that."

JUST IN: Former top Clinton adviser calls for an internal probe of ABC for rigging the debate against Trump.

Former adviser to Bill & Hillary Clinton Mark Penn says ABC needs to launch an investigation to search for an effort of "rigging the outcome" of the debate.

"I actually… pic.twitter.com/B2G3EwZHr0
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 12, 2024

It’s never going to happen.