Trump Campaign Declares War On Fact-Checking Ahead Of Debate
GOP Nominee Doesn’t Want Moderator Lester Holt Calling Out His Lies
Donald Trump’s campaign is terrified that moderator Lester Holt will call out the GOP nominee’s inevitable lies during Monday’s debate.Â
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN on Sunday that it isn’t the job of the media — or of debate moderators — to fact-check candidates:Â
Conway: “And I really don’t appreciate campaigns thinking it is the job of the media to go and be these virtual fact-checkers…” pic.twitter.com/jgbV9ReFgS
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 25, 2016
Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich also pre-emptively discouraged any fact-checking by Holt:
How weak is Clinton that her campaign wants moderators to fact check Trump?isn’t that her job?are they that afraid of Trump.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) September 25, 2016
The statements by Conway and Gingrich appeared to be a continuation of Trump’s strategy of “working the referee” to rig the debate in his favor:Â
Trump is trying to rig the debate by kneecapping Lester Holt https://t.co/TplDAvoy9m #Perspective @kingc_i reports pic.twitter.com/qcvBkbsUGn
— Senior Correspondent (@srcorrespondent) September 25, 2016
Sadly, the strategy may be working, as the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Janet Brown, effectively agreed with the Trump camp on Sunday: Â
Head of Commission on Presidential Debates doesn’t want moderators correcting lies because “what is a big fact, what is a little fact?” #cnn pic.twitter.com/krm5FeV9aW
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) September 25, 2016

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