(RightIsRight.co) – Questioning whether there was an effort to rig the outcome of this week’s presidential debate, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s former top adviser, Mark Penn, dropped a bombshell by calling for ABC News to launch an internal investigation into how it handled the debate.
ABC News was strongly criticized by both sides for fact-checking some of GOP candidate Donald Trump’s statements but not challenging any made by Kamala Harris.
Trump called Thursday’s debate a three-on-one situation and said he would not participate in another one before the election.
The debate, moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis, was the first between Harris and Trump. It drew 67.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched presidential debate since 2008.
However, it faced backlash from both Republicans and Democrats for appearing biased.
“I actually think they should do a full internal investigation, hire an outside law firm. I don’t know how much of this was planned in advance,” Penn said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast.
Penn said, “I don’t know what they told the Harris campaign. I think the day after, suspicion here is really quite high, and I think a review of all their internal texts and emails really should be done by an independent party to find out to what extent they were planning on.”
“In effect, you know, fact-checking just one candidate and in effect, rigging the outcome of this debate. I think the situation demands nothing less than that,” he added.
Penn, who chairs the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll, also acknowledged Harris’ strategy of positioning Trump as the incumbent and herself as the candidate of change despite being the current vice president.
Moreover, Penn suggested the Trump campaign mail out to voters an ACLU questionnaire that then-Senator Harris filled out, where she indicated support for gender surgery for illegal immigrants and defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Other reports have highlighted a close relationship between Harris and Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney and overseer of ABC News. The New York Times quoted Harris as calling them “extraordinary friends,” noting that Walden and Harris are neighbors in Brentwood, a wealthy Los Angeles area.
Additionally, Mark Penn is not the only veteran Democrat pollster who has criticized the moderation of the debate.
Doug Schoen, an advisor to President Clinton and NY city Mayor Mike Bloomberg, wrote in an editorial that Harris “was aided and abetted by two ABC News moderators who seemingly felt the need to fact-check virtually everything the former president said.”
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