Ratings for ABC’s “World News Tonight” dropped by over 10% after the September 10 debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The three-on-one “debate” was hosted by the rabid anti-Trumper David Muir and Linsey Davis, a sorority sister and friend to Harris.  

Muir and Davis faced criticism for focusing more on fact-checking Trump than Harris. While Trump was “corrected” numerous times, Harris repeatedly made incorrect statements about Trump’s views on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other topics like Project 2025, several Trump quotes deliberately taken out of context, and false statements regarding the economy and immigration.  

Ironically, the “fact checks” were overwhelmingly false. 

Before the debate, Muir’s show had about 7.6 million viewers. Three days after the debate, just 6.7 million viewers tuned in. 

During the debate, Trump dealt with Harris and the moderators, Muir and Davis. At one point, Davis asked Harris about her changing views on policies. It was a simple question, but Davis didn’t push Harris when she talked about “values” instead of answering it.  

Even ABC News reporter Martha Raddatz mentioned that Harris was wrong when she claimed no U.S. troops were involved in combat overseas. “There is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” Harris boasted. On Tuesday, Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) released a video of American soldiers actively fighting in the Middle East. 

In a post-debate interview with the Los Angeles Times, Davis said Biden’s horrible CNN debate performance earlier this summer influenced her fact-checking of former President Trump. Davis explained that she wanted to ensure Trump’s statements were “challenged, unlike the June CNN debate.” The Times reported that Davis said her goal was to “correct the candidates” because of Biden’s poor performance in that earlier debate, which led to his exit from the race. 

One notably false “fact check” involved Trump’s comments about former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. In 2019, Northam suggested a baby could be killed after birth if the mother and doctor decided it was “necessary.” Davis firmly told Trump that “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Liberals celebrated the “slam dunk,” but pro-life groups asked ABC News to correct her because her statement was “100% inaccurate.”  

The one-sided fact-checking was deliberate and planned weeks before the debate. The Times said that Davis and co-moderator David Muir spent hours watching campaign rallies and interviews to prepare for the debate. They wanted to be prepared to challenge Trump’s “most extreme” statements. 

Even though they didn’t fact-check Harris, Davis said her team “planned to check both candidates’ facts” throughout the night. She defended herself and Muir by saying they couldn’t catch every mistake, but the Times pointed out that none of Harris’s wrong statements were corrected. 

Last week, an unverified affidavit spread online, claiming it showed close cooperation between ABC News and Kamala Harris’s team before the debate. The document is a sworn statement from an ABC News staffer, first shared on Sunday by an X account called “Black Insurrectionist.” According to the document signed by a notary public the day before the debate, ABC News gave Harris the questions in advance and agreed to other conditions to give her an edge over Trump. 

Some bizarre conditions allegedly included giving Harris a smaller podium to make her appear larger and instructing the cameramen to record Harris’s “good side.” Moderators were prohibited from questioning Harris about her corrupt brother-in-law, Tony West, or her coverup of Biden’s health. They were also forbidden from asking about her record as the Attorney General of San Fransisco. 

Additionally, the sworn statement said Harris’s team asked for promises that Donald Trump would be fact-checked. According to the document, Harris’s team was given sample questions covering topics similar to those posed in the debate. 

The staffer who wrote the document also said they sent it to House Speaker Mike Johnson. They mentioned they mailed a package with the document through Federal Express on September 9, 2024, and it was delivered to their home on September 10, 2024. They said the package would stay unopened to use for an investigation. 

While the document has yet to be verified, it was mailed before the debate. It contained far too many occurrences to be coincidental.  

But Americans don’t need an affidavit to prove what they saw unfold on that shameful night. They are aware, energized, and “woke” in a way Democrats fear. Harris won the battle, but November 5 will tell if she wins the war.