ABC News Loses Viewers After ‘Bias’ Against Trump During Harris Debate

ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir may have alienated some viewers after the network, owned by Disney, upset conservative audiences during last week’s presidential debate.

Muir, along with co-moderator Linsey Davis, fact-checked former President Donald Trump five times without issuing any corrections for Vice President Kamala Harris. This led many conservatives to claim the debate was biased. Additionally, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America demanded a correction after Davis fact-checked an abortion-related claim made by Trump, which the organization called “100% inaccurate.”

Following the debate, viewership for “World News Tonight” averaged 6.7 million on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday—the episodes following the debate—down from its 2024 average of 7.6 million prior to the event. This 12% drop was larger than the small decreases seen by “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News” over the same period. Despite the dip, Muir’s newscast remained the top evening news program, according to Fox News.

While it’s unclear whether Trump supporters have stopped watching ABC due to the debate, the former president criticized the network for being “one-sided.” In a Fox News interview, Trump said, “Every one of them should have been questioned by David Muir, who I’ve lost a lot of respect for. Everyone’s lost respect for him. It was so … one-sided.”

Moreover, some of the fact-checks of Trump were reportedly inaccurate.

After the Justice Department released new crime data, the Trump campaign pushed back on a statement Muir made during the debate. Trump had claimed that crime rates, particularly among illegal immigrants, had surged under the Biden-Harris administration. Muir responded by saying, “As you know, the FBI reports that overall violent crime is coming down in this country.”

However, according to the Trump campaign, this claim was false. The Justice Department’s “National Crime Victimization Survey,” released shortly after the debate, reported a 37% increase in violent crime from 2020 to 2023, with rape up by 42%, robbery by 63%, and stranger violence by 61%, according to Just the News.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign, stated, “If Kamala is given another four years and the chance to implement her weak-on-crime, defund the police, no cash bail policies, America will continue to turn into a crime-ridden hellhole for illegal immigrants, Venezuelan gangsters, and drug dealers.” She added, “Only President Trump will restore law and order, protect our police, secure the border, deport illegal immigrants, and prosecute criminals to the fullest extent of the law.”

Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly also criticized the moderators on her SiriusXM podcast, calling the debate “blatantly biased” against Trump.

“I’m disgusted. I’m ashamed of those moderators at ABC News,” Kelly said. She alleged that ABC News executives had personal ties to Kamala Harris and were biased in her favor. “It was three against one. Trump did the best he could under the circumstances, but it was like three fighters in the ring pummeling one opponent.”

Kelly went on to say that Republicans should avoid trusting networks like ABC with future debates, calling the moderation a “mistake.” “The Republicans must learn from this mistake the same way the Democrats never, ever agree to do anything with moderators they don’t entirely trust,” she added.