Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) suggested that there should be more live fact-checking during the next presidential debate after CNN was criticized for the lack of it last week.
Clyburn said he doesn’t know whether there should be a second debate after President Biden’s poor debate showing on Thursday night on CNN’s “State of the Union.” While speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash, who moderated last week’s debate, he suggested that there was not enough live fact-checking during the debate.
“I think that Joe Biden will do well with the debate. I think it all depends upon what the rules are. I don’t like the debate when nobody will do any fact checking. You just say what you want to say. You know it’s a lie. The guy told 30 some odd lies and nobody checked him on it. Instead that was up to Joe Biden to do,” he told Bash.
“If I asked you a question, and you lied to me with the answer, I would have followed up and give you what the facts are and see what your reaction to that will be. So that to me was not the way to plan the debate. And whoever did that and agreed to that really should think about what they’re doing,” he added.
Bash noted that Biden’s team had agreed to the terms of the debate in her response. Biden’s debate performance last week led many people to call for him to step down from the ticket, causing worry within the Democrat Party.
CNN was criticized for the lack of live fact-checking during the debate with former President Trump and Biden. Many outlets, including CNN, released their own fact-checks of the debate after it concluded. However, Bash and co-moderator Jake Tapper did not offer real-time fact-checks during the performance.
CNN said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday “we are very proud of Jake and Dana. Our job was to make sure candidates were heard so voters can make informed decisions and we are pleased we were able to do that.”
Biden’s campaign has tried to shake off the debate performance, with a White House official saying that Biden was dealing with a cold that night. The day after the debate, an energized Biden delivered remarks to voters in North Carolina to try and quell concerns about his ability to serve a second term.