CBS News slammed as network leaves it to Vance and Walz to fact-check each other during VP debate

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: CBS News has announced that it would leave it upon the participants of the vice presidential debate to fact-check each other, the HuffPost reported on Friday, September 27.

The network is scheduled to host the first debate between the Republican VP candidate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, and his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in Manhattan on Tuesday, October 1, at 9 pm ET.

The one-and-half-hour event will be moderated by Norah O’Donnell, the outgoing anchor of 'CBS Evening News', and Margaret Brennan, host of 'Face the Nation'.

Debate moderators face backlash for fact-checking participants

The decision by the CBS network comes in the light of the events of the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris which took place earlier in September.

Hosted by ABC News, network moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis called out GOP nominee Trump for making inaccurate statements on four occasions. These included his statements on abortion, the 2020 election, crime statistics, and reports that immigrants in Ohio were eating pets.

Democratic nominee Harris faced no such interruptions. As such, MAGA supporters were infuriated and slammed the moderators as unfair.

On the other hand, CNN avoided any such controversy when they hosted a presidential debate between Trump and incumbent Joe Biden, who was then running for reelection, as they did not attempt to fact-check any candidate.

As such, CBS stated on Friday that it would be the responsibility of Vance and Walz to point out each other's false statements, if any. The network moderators "will facilitate those opportunities” during rebuttal time, they assured.

The real-time fact checking by the network will be shared over a live blog and social media, they added.

Internet calls CBS 'irresponsible' after it plans to not fact-check VP candidates

Netizens reacting to the news on the social media platform X slammed the CBS network for shying away from fact-checking the presidential candidates.

"So how does that work since Vance is a compulsive liar? That's irresponsible CBS," wrote a user.

"@CBSNews cowards! I have no interest in sitting down to watch a total s**t show. Thanks for tossing your integrity out the window," stated another.

"Don’t do this debate if there is no fact-checking," expressed a third.

"Well then they are little more than camera operators, now AI could definitely take over the 'journalist' jobs if they won't," jibed a fourth.

"The media continues to fail us," observed a fifth user.

"Lol. Immediately caved to republican crying. Ridiculous," quipped yet another.

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