CBS Debate Moderators Grilled For Bad VP Debate Performance, Muting JD Vance's Fact Check

Smarmy, biased, trash and in desperate need of fact-checking … these were the common sentiments used to describe the moderators of Tuesday night's vice presidential debate.

J.D. Vance and a wide-eyed Tim Walz had their debate derailed by another poor performance from the moderators, Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan, who hosted the CBS event.

The CBS tandem made David Muir and Linsey Davis sound objective by comparison.

Senator JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio and Republican vice-presidential nominee, and Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota and Democratic vice-presidential nominee, are shown on screen during a vice presidential debate watch party in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

CBS News anchors Norah O'Donnell, left, and Margaret Brennan during the first vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

If you were expecting O'Donnell and Brennan to approach this debate objectively, you were surely disappointed.

Rather than touching on pressing matters such as the economy or escalating tensions in the Middle East with grace and focus, O'Donnell and Brennan managed to steal the spotlight by giving the final word on several topics, pushing on Vance way more than Walz, and used the majority of the time to discuss items of interest only to the Democrat Party, such as abortion, climate change, gun restrictions and the 2020 election results.

NEW YORK - Democrat vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on October 1, 2024 in New York City. This is expected to be the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 general election. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) participates in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on October 1, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

They also cut off the microphone of one of the VP candidates. Can you guess the candidate?

The night's highlight went to Vance, who fact-checked a "fact check" by Brennan concerning Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio … only to have his microphone cut off. 

OutKick founder Clay Travis reacted to Vance's exceptional response.

"They had to cut JD Vance’s mic because he was destroying the moderators," Clay posted. "Love it. Makes the moderators look pathetic."

Pitiful stuff by the network to let the moderators push their own views.

Regarding abortion, the moderators did not push back on Walz after he denied approving the method nine months into a pregnancy.

O'Donnell and Brennan would have seized the opportunity if Walz had been a Republican.

Reactions to O'Donnell and Brennan's performances took major exception to their skewed questioning and for letting Walz off easily every time Kamala Harris' VP pick sputtered over a question he didn't know.

(Who do you think won the debate? Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com)

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