With the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a month away, the campaigns are busy prepping for each other–but without one key piece of information: who will be moderating the debate?
Four years ago, moderators for the presidential and vice presidential debate were announced August 13. This year, however, CNN reports the announcement may not come until after Labor Day:
The delay is due in part to an unprecedented challenge the bipartisan Commission faces in selecting individuals who are immune (or at least as immune as possible) to accusations of bias. While that is always a concern for the Commission, the sources said it is more challenging than ever this time around due to one factor: Donald Trump.
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Trump has already insisted that he will object to moderators he considers “unfair.”
As CNN describes the thinking inside the Commission on Presidential Debates:
The last thing the Commission wants is for the moderator to become part of the story about a debate. Yet Trump’s aggressive attacks on the media and complaints about unfair treatment have effectively guaranteed that the moderators will come under scrutiny from conservatives.
This has made the Commission even more cautious than usual in researching potential moderators, sources said. The Commission fears that Trump would use even the slightest whiff of a pro-Clinton bias to attack a moderator and undermine his or her credibility.