CNN’s Dana Bash admits she prepared “much more” for Trump’s behavior during the first debate than for Biden

CNN host Dana Bash told “The View” co-hosts on Monday that she and her co-moderator Jake Tapper prepared much better for how former President Trump would behave during the June debate than for President Biden.

“The View” co-host Ana Navarro asked Bash if anything else surprised her since the president’s resignation, noting that Bash was at the “center” of the election cycle because of her interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and her viral clash with Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate.

“I still can’t believe we are where we are for so many reasons. I mean, the debate, if you had told me earlier when we were preparing, and the preparation is very intense, that we would have ended up If it hadn’t been for Joe Biden in the race, I would have said you had lost your mind. I would never believe it. We prepared a lot for how Donald Trump would behave and how he would react, and we kind of tried to play it up rather than on Joe Biden’s side,” Bash responded.

Biden’s poor performance during the CNN debate directly led to his departure in July after weeks of pressure from Democrats.

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Trump and Harris clashed in early September during a debate moderated by ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Davis and Muir fact-checked Trump several times during the debate, but did not fact-check the vice president at all.

Davis admitted in a post-debate interview that her fact-checking of Trump was influenced by the CNN debate.

“People were concerned that the statements might just be suspended and wouldn’t be questioned by then-candidate Biden or the moderators,” Davis told the Los Angeles Times.

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During the first debate, Bash and Tapper did not provide live fact-checking.

Harris falsely claimed during an ABC debate that there were no active-duty US troops in war zones or combat zones, but this was not fact-checked.

“For the first time this century, not a single member of the United States military has served on active duty in a war zone in any war zone anywhere in the world,” Harris said during the debate.

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Muir similarly dismissed any criticism of the moderators following their debate and said it was simply “noise.”

“All these noises you hear later are about which candidate won the debate, did the moderators win or lose?” Muir told the audience on ABC’s “Live With Kelly and Mark.” “It’s just noise. You all know this. The most important thing to remember is that you all have the power.”

Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark and David Rutz contributed to this report.