CBS cut the mics and fact-checked JD Vance in a more civil debate about the vice president, drawing the ire of Trump and his allies.

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CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan had an important choice to make before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate: Would they directly fact-check the candidates’ statements live in the moment? Or would they take a hands-off approach and let candidates vet each other?

O’Donnell and Brennan chose to thread the needle. At the start of the debate, moderators said their role was to “provide candidates with an opportunity to fact-check each other’s claims,” ​​but they sometimes made factual statements, often not in direct response to a comment. candidate. Other times, they gave the opposing candidate the opportunity to correct the facts.

But the most direct fact-checking of the evening also led to the most dramatic moment on stage, upending what was otherwise a largely civil debate and leading moderators to cut off the microphones of Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz during of a controversial discussion. back and forth about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.

At the start of the debate, Vance was responding to a question about immigration when he brought up Springfield, Ohio, saying “he’s worried about the Americans there” who “have seen their lives destroyed by the border open by Kamala Harris.

“In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities across the country, you have overwhelmed schools, overwhelmed hospitals, completely unaffordable housing because we have brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce housing,” Vance said.

After Walz responded, Brennan stepped in to lay out the facts on the matter.

“And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio has a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.

Vance spoke out to complain about fact-checking.

“Margaret, the rules were that you weren’t going to fact-check me and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s really happening,” he protested.

Brennan tried to move on, but Vance continued to describe the process by which immigrants can apply for temporary protected status that has allowed Haitian immigrants to settle in places such as Springfield.

After a few lines from Vance and an attempted interjection from Walz, the microphones were cut off as the men continued talking over each other.

“The audience can’t hear you because your mics are muted,” Brennan told the candidates. “We have so much we want to achieve. »

Last month, ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked former President Donald Trump during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, angering Trump and his media allies from RIGHT. That was the case again Tuesday night, as Trump and some of his biggest media backers expressed outrage at the moderators’ decision.

Margaret Brennan just ‘fact-checked’ JD, wrongly, on ‘climate change,'” Trump wrote on Truth Social after Brennan said scientists mostly agree that the Earth is warming at an unprecedented pace. “When is she going to check Tampon Tim on all his false statements? Another repeat with the fake news being unfair to the Republican candidate and trying to get the pathetic Democrat across the finish line. But that doesn’t matter, the public sees it for what it is: FAKE NEWS!

“Both young women were extremely biased presenters! Trump raged in another message.

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC host turned conservative podcaster, also attacked CBS for fact-checking Vance’s claims. “F you CBS – how DARE YOU,” she wrote on X.

On Fox News, the issue was a priority for Brit Hume, the right-wing outlet’s chief political analyst. “The moderators were obnoxious and made it seem like it was three to one against Vance,” he said.

Walz asked Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Listen to how Vance responded

Fox prime-time host and Trump promoter Laura Ingraham added: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Republican so skillfully maneuver what was smug and arrogant bias on the part of these moderators. Nearly every question was designed to make Republicans look bad and skew Trump’s views on child care.”

But the Trump campaign itself didn’t seem too bothered by the moderators.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told CNN in the press room after the debate: “I didn’t like the way they went back on their word on fact-checking. But I thought Senator Vance handled this situation masterfully and was able to get his full answer and set the record straight.