Being a debate moderator is easier said than done. The job has a simple objective with a difficulty level off the charts. And CBS News moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan learned that firsthand on Tuesday night during the Vice Presidential Debate.
I hold the belief that, as a debate moderator, you have two essential jobs: Get answers to the questions people want and control the debate. At times, both O’Donnell and Brennan succeeded and failed Tuesday night.
Coming into the debate, CBS News stated its moderators would not participate in live fact-checking in the way that ABC News did during the presidential debate last month. That network’s moderators — David Muir and Linsey Davis — were roundly chastised for their performance. So, CBS News wanted to avoid a similar situation for its anchors.
Yet, in what is largely viewed as the biggest moment of the evening, an attempted fact-check was the inflection point of Tuesday’s event. When Margaret Brennan attempted to rebut claims made by Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) that American cities have been “overrun” by illegal immigrants from Mexico, mentioning the city of Springfield, Ohio. Brennan stated that immigrants in that community are mostly of Haitian descent and are in the country legally. That led her and Vance to talk over one another, leading the microphones of both candidates to be muted.
It was an incredibly awkward moment. Hindsight is always 20/20, but even in real-time, I was yelling at the TV screen the few words every debate moderator: “Sir/Ma’am, we’re moving on.” That’s it. You control the debate. If the candidates want to attempt to talk over you, let them. If you take heat for them throwing a hissy fit because they didn’t get their way, fine. But it’s your debate, and you’re giving them insanely valuable airtime to reach potential voters.
The idea that CBS News muted the microphones to stop Vance because he was “trouncing”, “owning”, or whatever word hyperpartisan social media accounts and conservative media members used is, from my viewpoint, ridiculous. The CBS News moderators had decided the points had been made on the subject, and it was time to move on. The idea that anyone was served by Vance’s minutiae of the immigrants being in the United States legally with a “Well, technically,” defense is insane. When it’s time to move on, it’s time to move on. Tackling more subjects during a timebound debate is always a good thing, and to pretend otherwise isn’t a good-faith argument.
The idea that any pushback from either side of the political aisle is bad is, in my opinion, poppycock. I echo the sentiments that former CBS News anchor Dan Rather shared that it’s “spineless” to be weary of criticism. As a debate moderator, your job isn’t to ask the questions the candidates want to answer, it’s to ask the ones they don’t.
I think both candidates fielded questions they didn’t want to answer. For instance, Brennan asked Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) about a recently resurfaced clip of the candidate saying he was in Tiananmen Square in 1989 during the famous protests and massacre. That certainly does not appear to be true, and Brennan didn’t let him off the hook when she followed up her question by asking for specifics.
Similarly, both Brennan and O’Donnell chased Vance for answers throughout the night, including when he failed to provide concrete details on how a potential Trump administration would utilize federal lands for new housing after being asked for specific details.
One of the toughest strings to pull during the debate is controlling the debate without appearing as if you’re controlling the debate. In a polarized world, criticism exists for literally anything, so attempting to avoid it is futile. I thought both Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan let the debate “breathe” a little bit throughout the evening, being flexible when the candidates would ask for the opportunity for a follow-up. I don’t know that I ever thought while watching “Tell these guys to shut up and let’s move on.” So, I think credit is due there for the two moderators.
There was a moment where Walz technically had the floor, but he and Vance — who both deserve praise for having a quasi-normal debate, something we haven’t seen in what feels like a decade — were being civil in their discussion. But the moderators interjected by saying “Senator, the Governor has the floor.” It felt like an unnecessary attempt to rein in a debate that wasn’t off the rails.
Overall, I’m giving both Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan the same grade for the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate. In my grade book, I’m giving them both a B. I don’t believe it’s fair to criticize the moderators specifically for the questions asked, because it’s unlikely they were each left to their own devices to come up with the queries. I knocked some points for the awkward microphone muting incident because it was clunky, awkward, and led to them becoming the story. But I think they deserve praise for attempting to get answers for their viewers, even if those answers were attempted to be shooed away on account of one candidate being a “knucklehead.”
Additionally, points were deducted for the pair of attempted fact-checks. If the network says “We’re not going to do live fact-checking,” I don’t think you can even come close to that line. There can’t even been a credible accusation that you attempted to fact-check, and I think they failed in that regard. But, generally, I think the idea that Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan wouldn’t fact-check the candidates likely helped the debate overall and helped their favorability ratings after the event.
The debate had good pacing and never felt like a chore or challenge to watch. Much of that should be credited to Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, as well as the candidates. Finally, it appeared as if CBS News took a different approach than its counterpart ABC News did with its event. David Muir dominated the question asking during the September debate. But from my standpoint, it looked as if CBS News wanted equal participation from O’Donnell — who is preparing to exit the CBS Evening News anchor chair — and the Face the Nation anchor. That, to me, feels like the right approach, so high marks for both moderators and the network’s coverage as a whole.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
