Debate Will Be 90 Fateful Minutes for 2 Candidates, and One Network
ABC News is in the spotlight as its journalists gear up to host one of the most highly anticipated events of the 2024 campaign.
Tens of millions of Americans are expected to tune in live on Tuesday to watch Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump face off in their first head-to-head debate.
The massive audience will also be closely watching ABC News.
As the sponsor and host of this general election debate, ABC is responsible for nearly every detail, from the camera angles viewers see at home to the ability of moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis to keep the debate on track.
TV networks typically prefer to stay in the background during debate nights, but ABC is already at the center of accusations from both campaigns. Harris's team has raised concerns that certain ground rules unfairly disadvantage the vice president, while Trump has launched aggressive attacks, calling ABC “the worst” and “the nastiest.”
Despite the noise, ABC News leaders gathered at the debate site in Philadelphia on Saturday, say they remain unfazed, noting that both campaigns ultimately agreed to participate.
"I don’t think anything said about us or the debate affects our role or mission," said Rick Klein, ABC's political director, in an interview. "Our job is to rise to the occasion, and it’s both an enormous and humbling responsibility. Once the lights are on and the cameras are rolling, nothing else matters."
However, the network—still adjusting to a recent leadership shakeup—is acutely aware that Tuesday night brings both opportunity and risk.
Until about 10 weeks ago, many pundits believed that presidential debates had little real impact. Despite the hype and intense scrutiny, they often left the course of campaigns largely unchanged.
But on June 27, President Biden stepped onto a CNN stage in Atlanta.
His shaky performance, broadcast to 51 million viewers, thrust questions about his mental fitness into the national spotlight. Three weeks later, he withdrew from the race.
The moderators that night, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, were praised for their calm handling of the event. Still, some Democrats criticized them for not fact-checking Trump’s false statements in real time.
Rick Klein of ABC said in the interview that David Muir and Linsey Davis are "there to facilitate a discussion," emphasizing that "the debate belongs to the candidates."
When asked about the role of fact-checking, Klein responded, "I don’t think it’s a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. We’re not committing to fact-check everything or nothing. Our job is to keep the conversation going and facilitate a solid debate, which involves asking questions, steering the conversation, and ensuring it remains civil."
The responsibility falls on ABC's moderators, a duo of anchors who are more generalists than political specialists.
David Muir, anchor of "World News Tonight," is the most-watched TV news personality in the country, with an average of 7.4 million viewers last month, according to Nielsen. His broadcast outpaced those of NBC and CBS, as well as cable competitors like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (2.6 million) and Fox News's Jesse Watters (3 million).
Muir interviewed both Trump and Harris and moderated four primary debates for ABC since 2015 (three Democratic and one Republican). Linsey Davis, Sunday anchor of "World News Tonight," also brings experience, having moderated two Democratic primary debates during the 2020 campaign.
The moderators may also need to brace for potential on-air attacks from Mr. Trump against them and ABC News.
In recent days, Trump has labeled ABC News as "very hostile territory" and repeated a baseless accusation that the network was feeding questions to the Harris campaign in advance. This is consistent with Trump’s strategy of preemptively blaming the host network if he performs poorly in a debate.
"ABC, I think, is the worst of everybody," Trump told reporters. "They’re the nastiest. They’re as bad as you can be."
Trump has also pointed to the role of Dana Walden, a top executive at Disney, ABC's parent company, and her decades-long friendship with Harris. Walden, who oversees ABC News as part of her wide-ranging portfolio, has donated to Harris’s campaigns and hosted fundraisers for her. ABC News has clarified that Walden has no involvement in editorial decisions.
Additionally, Trump has an ongoing lawsuit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, claiming the network damaged his reputation. However, the lawsuit was filed in March, months before the Trump campaign agreed to participate in an ABC-hosted debate.
Harris’s team has its own complaints about ABC.
Her aides pushed the network to change a rule, originally requested by the Biden campaign, that allows candidates' microphones to be muted while the other is speaking. Trump’s team refused to agree to the change, so the muting rule remains, though Harris’s camp argues the format “fundamentally disadvantaged” the vice president.
Tuesday's debate will be overseen by Rick Klein; John Santucci, ABC’s executive editorial producer; and Marc Burstein, a veteran producer of major political events at the network. Joining them are ABC News’s new president, Almin Karamehmedovic, appointed less than a month ago, and Debra OConnell, president of Disney’s newsgroup and networks, who previously led business operations for Disney Entertainment.
OConnell, who has experience working on state and local debates with ABC’s regional affiliates, expressed confidence in the team. Regarding partisan attacks on the network, she said, “We have an incredible team, and I feel very confident in our moderators.”
Over the weekend, ABC producers were finalizing the set at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, while David Muir and Linsey Davis arrived in the city for prep sessions. ABC political director Rick Klein shared that, amid the buzz, he found a personal way to mark the moment.
For a virtual coin toss with the campaigns—deciding lectern placement and the order of closing statements—Klein used a commemorative coin from the 200th anniversary of the Constitution. He had purchased the coin as a 10-year-old during a visit to Independence Hall, just three blocks from where Tuesday’s debate will take place.
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