Trump calls for 'dishonest' ABC to lose license following debate fact-check
During the first — and possibly the last — 2024 presidential debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, the former president was, at times, fact-checked by ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis.
Most of the fact-checking at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, September 10 came from Harris herself, although the moderators occasionally fact-checked claims from Trump were blatantly false.
For example, Trump falsely claimed that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, supports "execution after birth" for babies. And Davis responded, "There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born."
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After the debate, some of Trump's supporters, including Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, claimed that Muir and Davis' fact-checking put Trump at an unfair disadvantage during the debate. Mullin argued that Trump had to "debate three people" instead of only one.
But Trump went beyond claiming that the debate was unfair.
When he called in to Fox News' morning show, "Fox & Friends," the next day, Trump called for "dishonest" ABC News to lose its broadcasting license.
Trump told the hosts, "I think ABC took a big hit last night. To be honest, they’re a news organization — they have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that."
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