ELDER: Trump Missed Some Opportunities – but It Was a 3 Against 1 Debate

By Larry Elder 

The debate tone was set with the first question. Debate co-moderator David Muir, ABC's news managing editor, asked Vice President Kamala Harris: "I want to begin tonight with the issue voters repeatedly say is their No. 1 issue ... When it comes to the economy, do you believe Americans are better off than they were four years ago?"

It is not just a simple question. It isTHE central question of the race given that most voters cite the economy as their No. 1 issue. Harris failed to answer directly. Instead, she talked about her "plan" to deal with the economy. Former President Donald Trump should have pounded. That was a gimme, a layup. But Muir asked no follow-up.

And this was just the beginning. Muir and co-moderator Linsey Davis often "fact-checked" Trump or asked him to clarify when dissatisfied with his answer. Harris received markedly different treatment.

Before the debate, the conservative Media Research Center accused ABC of having the most biased of the three big networks' nightly news programs. MRC wrote: "MRC analysts reviewed all 100 campaign stories that aired on ABC's World News Tonight from the day Harris entered the race (July 21) through September 6, including weekends. Our analysts found 25 clearly positive statements about Harris from reporters, anchors, voters or other non-partisan sources, with zero negative statements -- none. That computes to a gravity-defying 100% positive spin score for the Vice President." Trump stories weighed in at 93% negative.

Harris's debate lies include Trump's alleged support for Project 2025, to which she referred several times. Project 2025 is a 900-page set of policy proposals by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del), at the Democratic National Convention, claimed Trump "wrote" it. A CNN fact-checker called this "false." A Newsweek fact-checker wrote that an Aug. 26 post by the Oversight Committee Democrats said: "Don't be fooled by Republican lies. Project 2025 was handcrafted by former Trump officials and cronies and 'blessed' directly by Trump." Newsweek wrote: "While we cannot be certain about Trump's feelings on Project 2025, the 'blessed' comment appears to have been misattributed." No pushback.

On abortion, Davis asked Trump: "Vice President Harris says that women shouldn't trust you on the issue of abortion because you've changed your position so many times. Therefore, why should they trust you?"

Trump replied: "Well, the reason I'm doing that vote is because the plan is, as you know, the vote is, they have abortion in the ninth month. They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia, the previous governor of West Virginia ...He said the baby will be born and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we'll execute the baby." (Trump meant a statement made by then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam about a failed abortion.)

Davis, after Trump's response, said: "There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born." Breitbart wrote: "It is illegal everywhere to kill a child, or to decide to have an abortion after a healthy birth, but it is not illegal in some states to allow a baby to die after a delivery induced for medical reasons." When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris's running mate, signed a "reproductive rights" bill, Patch.com posted an article with the following headline: "Tim Walz Repealed MN Law Protecting Babies Born After Failed Abortions." The subheadline continued: "Five babies died in Minnesota after they were born alive due to a failed induced abortion in 2021."

Harris falsely claimed that Trump, about Charlottesville, said there were "fine people" (referring to white supremacists and neo-Nazis) on both sides. She repeated the Trump-said-there-would-be-a-"bloodbath" lie. She repeated the Trump-said-he-would-be-a-"dictator" lie. She claimed Trump presided over "the worst unemployment since the Great Depression" and that the Trump tax cuts only benefited the rich. No pushback.

So, the question remains: To the family of four spending $1200 a month more for the same goods and services as four years ago, and to those concerned about the millions of illegal aliens allowed to enter the country under Biden-Harris, "Are you better off?"