If debate moderators want to hold Trump accountable, they need to ask him these questions | Editorial
With roughly two months to go in what is expected to be a close election, voters need the media and debate moderators to treat Trump as the serious threat he is.
Vice President Kamala Harris faces a major test in her first and possibly only debate against Donald Trump on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Harris’ every response and clothing choice will be hyper-analyzed as she is pressed on a wide variety of issues, including crime, taxes, immigration, and abortion. But parsing Harris’ policy positions and pantsuit preferences seems trivial given her opponent lacks the character, temperament, and fitness to be president.
That’s why the biggest challenge on Tuesday falls to the debate moderators at ABC News, and subsequently the media at large. Will ABC’s Linsey Davis and David Muir press Trump to give substantive responses to their questions?
If what’s past is prologue, Trump will dodge queries, spew lies, denigrate the country, and attack Harris and call her names — all while his unfounded claims will go unchecked and unchallenged. But asking tough questions and holding Trump accountable is the proper role of the media to help inform voters.
After all, Trump is a convicted criminal, financial fraudster, and sexual predator. He faces multiple indictments, has embraced governing as a dictator, and suggested terminating the Constitution.
Trump is also a serial liar and climate change denier. During his previous chaotic term as president, Trump attacked NATO allies and embraced America’s adversaries and enemies. His denial and mismanagement of the pandemic resulted in thousands of needless deaths. Trump was impeached twice, including for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election that resulted in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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Given his appalling record, Trump has no business being on a presidential debate stage, let alone one in the shadows of Independence Hall. The Founders feared a demagogue like Trump and created a system of checks and balances to try to guard against an authoritarian seizing power.
One important check includes the media, which played a disastrous role in helping Trump barely get elected in 2016 despite losing the popular vote.
He went on to do lasting damage, leaving a deeply divided and broken country. At 78, Trump is mounting his third run for the Oval Office as the oldest presidential candidate in history.
Once again, the media is downplaying Trump’s incoherent speeches, heated rhetoric, and desire for vengeance. His continued efforts to undermine the election and stoke violence indicate he is more dangerous than ever.
Yet, what he says and does is often treated as normal. Even worse, Fox News and social media continue to spread misinformation — with help from Elon Musk and Russia.
With roughly two months to go in what is expected to be a close election, voters need the media and debate moderators to treat Trump as the serious threat he is to the future of the country and the free world.
This is not a comprehensive list, but here are questions the debate moderators and political reporters should ask Trump to help voters make their decision:
Federal investigators received classified intelligence that suggested the president of Egypt gave you a $10 million “cash bribe,” but your attorney general blocked the probe, according to the Washington Post. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee last week asked you to provide the funding source of a $10 million donation you gave your campaign around the same time and how it was repaid. Will you make that documentation public?
You have flip-flopped your position on abortion over the years, including saying you were “very pro-choice” and later claiming women who get abortions should be punished. Last month, you gave two different answers within 24 hours regarding Florida’s six-week abortion ban. Can you clarify your position and whether you support a national abortion ban?
You called for prosecuting President Joe Biden, executing your former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, and jailing former Rep. Liz Cheney. If elected, will you follow through on any of these threats or go after other political enemies?
You use faulty claims to criticize Biden and Harris for not doing more about the border. But you worked to kill a bipartisan bill Biden and Harris supported that included the toughest immigration reforms ever. So, is your stance on immigration aimed at scoring political points or finding real solutions?
You have criticized Biden’s efforts to negotiate a cease-fire regarding Israel’s war in Gaza. But the Wall Street Journal said you don’t have a plan. What would you do differently than Biden? And did you urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay a cease-fire deal until after the election?
You claim to “know nothing” about Project 2025, yet you support initiatives in the plan to fire thousands of federal civil service workers, curtail the U.S. Justice Department’s independence, and abolish the U.S. Education Department. So, how does your position differ from these same plans spelled out in Project 2025?
If Harris is as radical as you claim, why would more than 200 Republicans who previously worked for former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, or Sen. Mitt Romney endorse her?
Why are so many of your own cabinet members not endorsing you, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and former national security adviser John Bolton?
Your campaign centers on criticizing your opponent and blaming others. Can you give some specific details — and not just slogans — as to how you will improve the country?
You boasted that you “did nothing” about guns while you were president. Indeed, gun violence spiked during your tenure. Have the frequent school shootings, mass killings, or the assassination attempt on your life caused you to rethink your position on gun safety?
You constantly criticize Biden’s economic policies. Yet, he added more jobs during his term than you did — even after excluding the losses during the pandemic. The stock market has reached record levels under Biden, and economists predict your tariffs and other policies will lead to higher prices, increased inflation, and possibly a recession. Even Goldman Sachs expects better economic growth if Harris wins. How will your economic plans help people?
You watched the insurrection unfold on TV for hours and did nothing. Do you wish you had done more to quell the violent attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?
Why do you continue to bow down to Russia even as it commits war crimes in Ukraine? Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said you told him you plan to cut off aid to Ukraine if elected. Is that true?
If elected, will you withdraw the United States from NATO and again abandon the Paris Agreement?
During your first term, you left the country the most divided since the Civil War. Do you have any specific plans to unite the nation?
You never take responsibility. Any time you get investigated, indicted, impeached, convicted, accused of sexual harassment, or faced a civil judgment, you claim it is fake news, a hoax, or blame someone else. Have you ever owned up to a mistake or apologized for a failure?
To be sure, Harris should also answer tough questions and spell out where she stands on the issues. But her shift on fracking or other policies does not rise anywhere near the dangerous level as Trump’s reckless plans, corrupt track record, and divisive leadership style.
Harris is not a threat to the Constitution or the rule of law. Trump has already demonstrated that he believes the rules do not apply to him.
The media must stop normalizing his actions and start asking Trump the hard questions.