ABC news’ George Stephanopoulos admitted that it is highly unlikely that he will moderate one of President Joe Biden’s newly announced 2024 presidential debates with the presumptive GOP nominee donald trumpgiven the way Trump is currently suing Stephanopoulos for defamation.
But Stephanopoulos told “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert on Wednesday that he would definitely be up for the role. And the journalist received huge applause from Colbert’s audience when he shared what his first question to the two candidates would be.
“Who won the last election?” Stephanopoulos said he would ask the question, adding: “I hope that’s the first question.”
Trump, of course, continues to baselessly claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Biden and Trump agreed to debate in June and September.
Stephanopoulos called it an “interesting” and “bold” move by Biden and said “the rules he put in place could make a difference.”
“I love them,” Colbert said of the conditions. “Without an audience, in the studio and when the time is up the microphone rings. This is a loss of power.”
Stephanopoulos agreed, but cautioned: “I wonder if, at the end of the day, if these rules are really in place, if the debate really happens. But I think these rules are essential.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Stephanopoulos revealed his “new rule” when interviewing guests who parrot Trump’s election lies and refuse to say whether they will accept the results of the 2024 vote.
The “first questions I ask every time,” he said, are: “Do you accept the last election? Why are you endorsing someone who refuses to accept the last election? Why are you endorsing someone who was indicted for trying to overturn the last election?”
“If they can’t answer those questions, I’m not going to move into tax policy or environmental policy or anything like that,” he told Colbert.
