'How dare you': MAGA Republicans rage at 'bimbo' moderators for cutting Vance’s mic during debate
When Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met for a vice-presidential debate in New York City on Tuesday night, October 1, they maintained a tone that many journalists found to be surprisingly civil and polite compared to the raucous, often bitter showdown between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris four weeks earlier in Philadelphia.
Vance, in contrast to Trump debating Harris, remained calm and didn't rant. When Never Trump conservative Charlie Sykes appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the following day, he complained that the debate had the effect of "sanewashing" Vance — and that Walz, on the whole, missed an opportunity to show just how extreme and dangerous Vance's positions are.
Nonetheless, there was one part of the debate where Vance's microphone was cut because he kept speaking when his time was up. And many far-right politicians and media figures were furious with CBS News and moderator Margaret Brennan for enforcing the rules of the debate.
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On X, formerly Twitter, ex-Fox News host Megyn Kelly tweeted, "F you CBS - how DARE YOU."
Kelly, in a separate tweet, posted, "Tried to fact check. JD put you in your place. You WONT HIM FIGHT YOU AND YOU WONT LET THEM DEBATE."
When journalist Mickey Kaus tweeted that Vance missed a chance to attack conservative Sen. James Lankford's (R-Oklahoma) border bill, far-right author Ann Coulter responded, "The bimbo moderators wouldn't have let him."
On his Truth Social platform, Trump posted, "Maragret Brennan just lied again about the ILLEGAL MIGRANTS let into our Country by lyin' Kamala Harris, and then she cut off JD's mic to stop him from correcting her!"
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MAGA conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was furious as well, tweeting, "@JDVance putting these broads in their place over the Haitian migrants in Ohio. Now they are muting his mic. Unreal."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) tweeted, "The CBS moderators just MUTED JD Vance's mic as he called them out for their lies about Kamala Harris’ open border policies. DISGRACEFUL."
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