Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Thursday that as long as the CNN moderators "don't muck this up," the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden should be a "great" one.
Donalds joined "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" a few hours before the start of the debate and was asked about CNN host Jake Tapper's "harsh" treatment of Trump the last four years and whether he, as one of the moderators, could be fair.
"Well, listen, that's my hope. But President Trump is ready for this," Donalds said. "This is not the first time he's had to deal with a moderator that might view him negatively or have an ax to grind, or already have an opinion of what they're going to do personally.
"And sometimes that unprofessionalism ekes out in their coverage. He's been dealing with that for quite some time, so he'll be ready."
CNN host Dana Bash is the other moderator alongside Tapper.
"I just want the moderators to just call it right down the middle," Donalds said.
"These debates are for the American people. They need to be hearing from President Biden and President Trump.
"They don't need to hear the editorializing from Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. As long as they don't editorialize and don't muck this thing up, it will be a great debate," he said.
"The American people will see very clearly that Donald Trump deserves to be the 47th president of the United States."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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