New study uncovers 'gravity-defying' contrast between Harris, Trump coverage by network hosting presidential debate

Vice President Kamala Harris may already have an edge in Tuesday's presidential debate.

A new study conducted by the Media Research Center found that ABC's flagship primetime news show, "World News Tonight," has not been critical of Harris since she entered the presidential race in July.

'That computes to a gravity-defying 100% positive spin score for the vice president.'

Specifically, MRC analysts studied every campaign story that aired on "World News Tonight" from July 21, the day Harris entered the race, to Sept. 6. They found that every statement made about Harris and her campaign from ABC anchors, reporters, voters, and other nonpartisan sources were "clearly positive." Every. Single. One.

"That computes to a gravity-defying 100% positive spin score for the vice president," the MRC reported.

On the other hand, the network has been extremely critical of Donald Trump.

ABC anchor David Muir (Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images)

The study found that over the same time period, ABC's "World News Tonight" aired only five "clearly positive" comments about Trump, compared to 66 negative comments.

That means while 100% of the comments about Harris were positive, a whopping 93% of comments about Trump were negative.

More from the MRC:

Our measure of good press/bad press omits partisan comments, as well as 'horse race' assessments about the candidates’ poll standings and prospects. So while viewers of ABC’s World News Tonight certainly heard negative comments about Harris during these past six-and-a-half weeks, all of them were from Trump, his campaign team, or other Republicans — never from reporters or nonpartisan sources.

At the same time, while our spin score similarly excludes all Democratic soundbites about the Republican nominee, ABC’s reporters and anchors either jumped in to criticize Trump themselves, or broadcast negative comments from non-partisan sources to impart a heavily negative spin to the former President’s coverage.

But what about NBC and CBS? Analysts found that while each network's coverage of Trump was overwhelmingly negative (77% at CBS and 86% at NBC), both networks are more willing to criticize Harris.

For example, while ABC, according to the MRC, hasn't described Harris as a "liberal" — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) believes Harris remains an ideological progressive — both NBC's "Nightly News" and CBS' "Evening News" have correctly described Harris as liberal and progressive. Each network show, moreover, has aired interviews with voters critical of Harris, something ABC's primetime newscast has not done.

Additionally, the analysis found that CBS and NBC are willing to broadcast controversies involving Harris, while ABC is not. But of course, ABC criticizes Trump and his perceived controversies.

The analysis is significant — and telling — because not only is ABC News hosting the debate between Trump and Harris, but "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir is one of the debate moderators.

The debate is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET, taking place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Like the debate between Trump and President Joe Biden in June, there will be no live audience at this debate. Each candidate is also prohibited from using pre-written notes — though they can use a pen and notepad during the debate — and candidates cannot confer with advisers during commercials.

The biggest holdup regarding debate rules came from Harris, who wanted unmuted microphones. At the previous debate, each candidate's mic was muted when it was not his turn to speak.

Harris' campaign believes Harris will be "fundamentally disadvantaged" with muted microphones. It is believed that Harris sought unmuted microphones because she wants to recreate a moment from her vice presidential debate with Mike Pence in 2020, when she chastised him for interrupting her.

Currently, there is not an agreement for an additional debate, although Trump has pledged to debate Harris three times.

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