ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis interjected and debunked the Republican nominee, 78, nearly a half-dozen times during the 90-minute debate in Philadelphia as Trump spoke about abortion, crime and immigration.
Meanwhile, Harris, 59, was allowed to speak uninterrupted — despite rattling off falsehoods about active US military in combat zones, as well as Trump’s stance on abortion, the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint and his “very fine people” remark about the Charlottesville race riot.
Trump has since slammed both ABC and its moderators, arguing the debate was “rigged,” “unfair” and a “three on one” affair.
Here’s a look at false and misleading claims made — from both sides — during the debate:
At one point, Harris falsely insisted there were no US military members on active duty in combat zones — despite troops still being stationed in various countries across the world.
“As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” the veep said.
While the US hasn’t formally declared war in decades, American troops are still stationed in Iraq and Syria, where they’re helping local forces fight terrorism.
US forces are also stationed in a handful of African nations, including Somalia.
On the topic of abortion and reproductive rights, moderators were quiet when Harris insisted: “If Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban.”
While Trump has said he has “no regrets” in hand-picking the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, he hasn’t ever said he would sign a federal abortion ban into law.
Instead, the ex-president has vowed to leave the issue up to the states.
Neither moderator chimed in to correct Harris when she parroted a falsehood that Trump once said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.
His critics have long claimed that he equated neo-Nazis with counterprotesters when he gave a press conference shortly after the race riot escalated.
Neither moderator chimed in to correct Harris when she parroted a falsehood that Trump once said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.
At the time, Trump insisted he was referring only to those people who wanted to preserve a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The fact-checking website Snopes has since acknowledged that Trump’s “very fine people” remark was taken out of context.
“While Trump did say that there were ‘very fine people on both sides,’ he also specifically noted that he was not talking about neo-Nazis and white supremacists and said they should be ‘condemned totally.’ Therefore, we have rated this claim ‘False,’” Snopes wrote.
Harris also got away with trying to pin Project 2025, a controversial right-wing handbook for how to run the country, on Trump — despite the former president attempting to distance himself from it.
“What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again,” Harris declared.
Without any help from the moderators, Trump point-blank denied any connection to the plan.
“I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” he insisted. “That’s out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it.”