Rep. James Clyburn (D.S.C.) suggested there should be more live fact-checking during the upcoming presidential debate, after CNN was criticized for a lack of it last week.
Clyburn said he doesn’t know if there should be a second debate after President Biden’s weak debate aired Thursday night on CNN’s “State of the Union.” When speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash, who moderated last week’s debate, he suggested that there wasn’t enough live fact-checking during the debate.
“I think Joe Biden will do well in the debate. I think it all depends on what the rules are. I don’t like the debate when no one checks the facts. You just say what you want to say. You know it’s a lie. The guy told 30 some outlandish lies and no one checked on him. Instead, that was up to Joe Biden,” he told Bash.
“If I asked you a question and you lied to me with the answer, I would have followed through and given you what the facts are and seen what your reaction to it will be. So to me, that was not the way to plan the debate. And whoever did this and agreed to this should really think about what they are doing,” he added.
Bash noted that Biden’s team agreed to the terms of the debate in their response. Biden’s debate performance last week led many people to call for him to resign from the ticket, causing concern within the Democratic Party.
CNN was criticized for its lack of live fact-checking during the debate with former President Trump and Biden. Many media outlets, including CNN, released their own fact-checks of the debate following its conclusion. However, Bash and co-moderator Jake Tapper did not offer real-time fact-checks during the presentation.
CNN said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday “we are so proud of Jake and Dana. Our job was to ensure candidates were heard so voters could make informed decisions and we are pleased we were able to do that.”
Biden’s campaign tried to shrug off the debate performance, with a White House official saying Biden had a cold that night. The day after the debate, an energetic Biden delivered remarks to voters in North Carolina to try to calm concerns about his ability to serve a second term.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
