Where is Sam Donaldson when we really need him?

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

Once upon a time, there was Sam Donaldson reporting from the White House on Peter Jennings' nightly newscast on ABC.

It was my favorite for a long time because you felt that Sam was shooting straight.

ABC newsman Sam Donaldson

Image: Screen shot from FoundationInterviews, via YouTube

Enter David & Linsey, and a total embarrassment for ABC.

I agree with Liz Peek:

The biggest loser in the first (and likely only) presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump was ABC News, which hosted the faceoff. The moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, embarrassed themselves and their network by, among other things, fact-checking Trump in real time on more than one occasion – sometimes incorrectly – while allowing Harris to spout serial lies and distortions.

Social media blew up early on in the debate with commentators on the right, in particular, calling Tuesday night’s faceoff the worst and most one-sided debate in history.

Indeed, most one-sided in history.

I've seen all of these debates since 1976 and the moderators have generally been fair and serious.

Yes, Candy Crowley helped Obama in 2012, but Romney still had a chance to win. The ABC moderators last night were just horrible.

They fact checked Trump six times and Harris 0.

Really?

So will this debate change the trajectory?

Probably not but you will see a lot of polls claiming that Harris won.

At the same time. I don't see anybody changing their minds by what they saw last night. If you hated Trump then, you hate Trump now. If you think that Harris speaks in word salads, then you keep thinking that.

On the critical side, Trump keeps taking the bait and he did too much of that last night.

So I hope he avoids that if we have a second debate ... if we actually have a second debate.

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Image: Screen shot from WSJ video, via YouTube