Political analyst accuses ABC of soft treatment on Harris' policy flip-flops: 'Biggest failure' of night
The media is 'fully on board' to 'protect' Harris through Election Day, Mark Halperin said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Journalist Mark Halperin accused the media of protecting Vice President Kamala Harris "at all costs" after Tuesday night's high-stakes ABC News Presidential Debate.
"Not only was one news organization fully on board to continue through Election Day protecting her at all costs, but we saw in the coverage of the debate, which was laughably uneven, no recognition that it was laughably uneven. In fact, mostly praise for how great a job ABC did," Halperin said during a livestream on his media platform 2WAY on Wednesday.
The ABC debate's co-moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis sparked criticism from conservatives after they fact-checked former President Trump five times during the heated event and failed to correct Harris a single time. The moderators were also accused of letting Harris off the hook on getting her to explain why she shifted her positions on several past progressive policies.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A former ABC News political director, Halperin said the moderators' soft treatment of Harris' policy flip-flops was the "biggest failure of the night."
ABC Presidential Debate co-moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked former President Trump five times during the 90-minute event and failed to correct Vice President Kamala Harris a single time on Tuesday evening. (ABC News)
"Bigger to me, was last night was the best — and if the Harris campaign continues to hide her, maybe only chance — to get her to explain her issue position changes. That to me was the biggest failure," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have sat down for at least 44 interviews since the Harris-Walz ticket was formed, Harris and her running mate have only sat down for seven non-scripted interviews, with less than two months to go until Election Day.
The debate could have been the only opportunity left for Harris to explain her shifting policy positions, he argued.
"They asked her one question, she didn't answer it, and then they dropped it completely," Halperin said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Towards the end of the debate, Davis did bring up Harris' past support for abolishing private health care before asking the candidate what her current healthcare proposal was.
FOX NEWS MEDIA PROPOSES SECOND HARRIS-TRUMP DEBATE MODERATED BY MARTHA MACCALLUM, BRET BAIER
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump during the second presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday. (Getty Images)
Trump's performance was also panned by Halperin as the "worst [presidential] debate performance I've ever seen."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump failed to get his message across about Harris being a far-left radical, he argued.
"Last night he demonstrated what most of us thought was the case: He's utterly unable to do it," Halperin said.
Despite what he saw as biased media coverage and a poor performance from Trump, Halperin wasn't convinced the debate would have a big impact on the polls.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There may be movement, there may not," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to ABC News for comment.