CBS cut mics and fact-checked JD Vance in a more civil VP debate, drawing the ire of Trump and his allies

CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan had an important choice to make ahead of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate: would they directly fact check the candidates’statements live in the moment? Or would they take a hands-off approach and let the candidates fact check each other?

CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan had an important choice to make ahead of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate: would they directly fact check the candidates’ statements live in the moment? Or would they take a hands-off approach and let the candidates fact check each other? O’Donnell and Brennan chose to thread the needle. At the top of the debate, the moderators said their role was “to provide the candidates with the opportunity to fact check claims made by each other” but they did occasionally make statements of fact, often not in direct response to a candidate’s comments. Other times, they’d lob up the opportunity for the opposing candidate to correct the record. But the most direct fact-check of the night also led to the most dramatic moment on stage, upending what was otherwise a largely civil debate and leading the moderators to cut off the microphones of Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz during a contentious back-and-forth over Haitian immigrants in Ohio. Early in the debate, Vance was answering a question about immigration when he brought up Springfield, Ohio, saying “he’s concerned about Americans there” who “have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border.” “In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you’ve got housing that is totally unaffordable because we’ve brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said. After Walz responded, Brennan jumped in to state the facts on the issue.