One of the biggest complaints from both the first presidential debate and the vice presidential debate was the inability of the moderators – Fox News’ Chris Wallace and USA Today’s Susan Page, respectively – to control the conversations and keep President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on topic and within the rules of debate. By contrast, both Guthrie and Stephanopoulos controlled their town halls, asking tough questions and pressing the candidates for real answers.

Guthrie, who used to be a lawyer, came at Trump hard. At times, giving Trump a taste of his own medicine by cutting him off, repeating questions he had not answered and asking for specifics in follow-up question. She clearly made Trump uncomfortable and even angry. She pointed out when Trump was refusing to answer a question, like when he wouldn’t say whether he had actually taken a COVID-19 test on the day of the first presidential debate, as was required by the debate commission. Guthrie even brought the snark; at one point, she reminded Trump that “you’re the president, you’re not like someone’s crazy uncle” as he touted various conspiracy theories.

Stephanopoulos, meanwhile, was more conversational with Joe Biden but still pressed him on specifics. Most notably, the ABC News host reminded Biden of his reputation as a straight shooter and got the Democratic candidate to pledge that he would make his position on packing the Supreme Court clear before the election, something that Biden had been trying to avoid since Judge Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Court.

Town Hall Meeting

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