Fact Check Battle: CBS News Cuts Contestants' Mics After JD Vance Objects to An Anchor's Correction

CBS News briefly turned off the microphones of vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz during an exchange in their debate On Tuesday, the Republican objected to anchor Margaret Brennan's attempt to correct something he said about immigration.

It was one of the most controversial moments of the evening, reminding viewers again of the difficulty news outlets organizing debates this political season face in trying to point out misleading or untrue statements in real time.

After Vance spoke about illegal immigrants overwhelming some American cities like Springfield, Ohio, Brennan interjected that the Haitians who moved to that city were there legally.

“Since you are fact-checking me, it is important to say what is actually going on,” Vance said.

After letting Vance speak briefly, Brennan interrupted him and said it was time to move on to other topics. They spoke over each other until CBS News muted the microphones of Vance and Walz, who were appearing in a studio in New York City.

“Gentlemen, the audience cannot hear you because your microphones are turned off,” Brennan said.

Before the debate, CBS News announced this up to the two candidates — not hosts Brennan and Norah O'Donnell — to fact-check each other, and journalists would encourage them to do so. Vance said it appeared CBS News was violating the rules he had set.

Fact check was a problem during the debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris last month after moderators corrected Trump at least four times, angering the former president and his supporters. When Trump debated President Joe Biden last spring, CNN anchors didn't attempt any corrections on television.

Echoing what followed the ABC debate, Trump posted on his website Truth Social during Tuesday's debate that “both young ladies were extremely biased moderators!”

At another point Tuesday, wrapping up a discussion about climate change, O'Donnell said the overwhelming consensus among scientists is that the planet is warming. She previously asked Vance whether he agreed with his vice president's comment that climate change was a hoax.

There were points where the moderators wanted to encourage the contestants to monitor each other. During a discussion about whether illegal migration is driving up housing costs, Brennan told Walz, “I want you to respond to the claim that the vice president is letting migrants in.”

But it was a discussion about abortion that most clearly illustrated the difficulties of this approach and showed that during a live debate there is no easy way to ensure that viewers receive accurate information. Vance pointed to a provision in a Minnesota law, where Walz is governor.

“When I read Minnesota law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion in which the baby survives is not required to provide life-saving care,” Vance said.

Vance called it “fundamentally barbaric,” while Walz said his opponent’s interpretation of the law was untrue.

What actually was in the law? That was unclear and viewers were left to decide which candidate they wanted to believe. The CBS anchors interrupt a commercial, unable or unwilling to clarify the question.

Throughout the debate, CBS News displayed an on-screen message telling viewers to log on to the CBS News Confirmed website to learn about claims in the debate that were untrue or misleading. In some places, the network even displayed a code that allowed viewers to instantly access the information on their cell phones. However, these requests were not shown on the screens of other networks that simulcast the CBS-produced debate.

The debate may have been viewers' last chance to see representatives from the two presidential campaigns compete on screen. Harris has called for a second debate between her and Trump, but the Republican nominee has not accepted the challenge.

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.