Outrage as Donald Trump calls CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash 'very professional' after debate

CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA: Former President Donald Trump praised CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash for their professionalism during his first presidential debate of the 2024 election year with President Joe Biden on June 27 in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the 90-minute-long interview, Tapper and Bash asked questions to the Republican presumptive nominee and the incumbent Democrat, during which Trump made around 30 false claims, and Biden repeatedly struggled to complete his sentences.

The president's poor performance added to the concerns of his age as even The New York Times editorial board called for the 81-year-old to drop out of the presidential race.

Trump hails Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at Virginia rally

In his first campaign rally appearance after the debate, in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday, June 28, Trump showered praises on the CNN moderators who faced criticism for failing to do a real-time fact check of the former president's false claims on the debate stage.

"Remember the guy from CNN?" the 45th president said about Tapper, as per Mediaite. "Although, I shouldn't knock CNN because I actually thought they treated me very fairly last night."

"Very professional, both of them," he said to an applauding crowd.  "Jake and Dana, they treated us very fairly. They abused me for years, but last night– right? What happened? They treated me very fairly. I think it's great. I think it was great for them. It was great for CNN. But I thought they were very fair."

Around 51 million viewers watched Trump and Biden's first face-off since the election year kickstarted. Though it became one of the most viewed programs in CNN's history, it failed to garner a larger audience than the previous presidential debates.

The first Biden-Trump debate in 2020 had 73 million viewers, while Trump and Hillary Clinton's first debate in 2016 attained a massive 84 million viewers.

Addressing the rally crowd in Virginia, Trump also took a swipe at his successor's poor performance and proclaimed he was the winner of the debate night.

"Did anybody last night watch anything called a debate," the MAGA spearhead asked, according to Raw Story. "We had a big victory against a man that really is looking to destroy our country."

However, sources close to Biden defended his raspy voice at the start of the debate, claiming the president had a cold.

Internet disagrees with Trump as he praises CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash

Outraged at Trump's praise for the CNN moderators, netizens pointed out that Tapper and Bash allowed the real estate mogul to lie throughout the debate without fact-checking.

"They let him lie without interruption for 90 minutes," a user wrote.

"Of course- no fact checking in real time," another fumed.

"Fairly meaning they let me lie uninterrupted and unchecked all night," added a third user.

"The moderators let Trump lie just like they did in 2016," read a fourth response.

"Yeah, they did NOTHING. No fact checking, no insistence on sticking to the question at hand," another outraged user wrote.

"You mean they allowed you to just go there with no intention of debating or answering any questions whatsoever. Rather, you went there to treat it as another rally just reciting the same old lies you tell your cult members. I wouldn't call it fair. Cowardice is a better word," someone else claimed.

"A compliment from Donald Trump is a badge of shame," an individual chimed in.

"They didn’t fact check him so he just LIED! He was a disgrace and disaster!!" another user added.

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