Ex-Clinton Adviser Urges ABC Probe into Alleged Debate Bias for Kamala Harris
A former adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton is calling for ABC News to investigate claims of potential bias in its coverage of the latest presidential debate, suggesting the network may have favored Vice President Kamala Harris. Mark Penn, who advised the Clintons between 1995 and 2008 and currently serves as co-chair of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, voiced these concerns on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast, questioning the fairness of the debate.
Penn expressed doubts that ABC News applied equal scrutiny to both candidates, claiming the network concentrated its fact-checking on former President Donald Trump while largely sparing Harris. “Suspicion is really quite high,” Penn noted, urging ABC to hire an independent firm to review internal communications such as texts and emails.
He added, “A full internal investigation should be done by an outside law firm. I don’t know how much of this was planned in advance, but the day after the debate, suspicion is quite high.”
In a joint editorial with Andrew Stein, a former New York City Council president, published in The Wall Street Journal, Penn criticized ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, alleging they had predetermined their focus on Trump. Penn and Stein suggested that Harris made a series of accusations against Trump—ranging from claims that he supports a national abortion ban to misstatements about his response to the Charlottesville protests—that went unchecked.
They further argued that if Harris had been fact-checked on these points during the debate, the outcome might have been perceived differently. “Had the moderators fact-checked Ms. Harris after her false claims, the conversation about the debate could have been vastly different,” they wrote.
Beyond the debate, Penn also raised concerns about media bias in general. He suggested that the Trump campaign could leverage a questionnaire Harris filled out as a senator, which reportedly shows her support for controversial policies like defunding ICE and backing gender surgery for undocumented immigrants. Penn believes the uneven media landscape could make it more difficult for Trump to succeed in the 2024 election, despite what he sees as a close race.
As the election draws closer, Penn warned, “If the referees have their finger on the scale, it’s harder to break through and overcome.”
While it’s unclear whether ABC News will address these concerns or investigate further, Penn’s statements are likely to intensify the conversation about media bias in the coverage of political debates.