On Thursday, radio host Hugh Hewitt remarked that Americans increasingly believe former President Donald Trump won the debate due to perceptions of unfair moderation.
ABC News debate moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir faced backlash for repeatedly fact-checking Trump while allowing Harris to make unchallenged false statements.
Hewitt, on “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” expressed little surprise at Trump’s Thursday announcement that he would not debate Vice President Kamala Harris again, noting that the former president is aware of the growing sentiment that the “debate was rigged.”
“I think he knows that he is in the process of winning the debate on Tuesday night and I want to explain that. NFL fans are familiar with the phrase ‘upon further review, the officials have reversed the call on the field due to overwhelming evidence.’ Well, upon further review, the American public has decided that that debate was rigged,” Hewitt said. “It was absolutely in the tank by ABC and Disney to hurt the former president and help Kamala Harris. When you go back and look at the deep, deep bias that manifested itself, it was as though lawfare had become mediafare and that, one example, not one question on China … And I think Donald Trump is reading internals, reading their polls and realizing the American people are disgusted with ABC, Kamala Harris did not answer one question directly and they’re moving towards him. He’s winning.”
Hugh Hewitt: Kamala did not answer one question, nor did ABC ask one question about China, Iran, Israeli hostages.
"I am so amazed with the unprofessionalism." pic.twitter.com/KEpEL1YvSH
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 11, 2024
Davis offered Harris an opportunity to address her numerous policy flip-flops, but the vice president used the time to discuss her “values” instead of clarifying her changed positions.
“Enormous tidal wave of reaction continues to come in. A debate isn’t over in a day. There was an enormous audience but there’s an enormous reaction to the face plant by ABC that’s being factored in,” Hewitt said. “It’s all working in the favor of the former president because people don’t like cheating and they viewed that debate as cheating … This was on a scale we have never seen before. Every question, every answer, five, six fact-checks of Trump, none of Kamala Harris.”
Governor @GlennYoungkin tells @hughhewitt why Kamala Harris’s proposal to tax unrealized capital gain is such bad policy:
“I think it’s crazy…it’s unprecedented for a reason because it makes no sense.” pic.twitter.com/WwsNTezKRN
— Team Youngkin – Spirit of Virginia (@TeamYoungkin) September 10, 2024
According to CNN and YouGov polls, Harris was deemed the winner of the debate by over 20% of Americans. However, Trump claimed in his Thursday post that “polls clearly show” he was victorious, and on Wednesday, he shared screenshots of specific polls indicating that viewers thought he won.