Gayle King has revealed that she sent a note to both David Muir and Linsey Davies, congratulating them on successfully moderating the 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
"I thought they did a great job, David and Linsey. I sent them both a note because I remember I have done it before and I thought it was like herding cats," the CBS star shared.
"Now, granted, we had more candidates and we have a studio audience which makes a difference, but they had the two of them and I thought they were great with the way they did the follow-ups and the questions that they asked. I thought they did great."
Speaking to People magazine, Gayle, who co-moderated the South Carolina Democratic primary debate in 2020 featuring Kamala and President Joe Biden — also shared that the toughest part is ensuring that each candidate receives an equal amount of time.
It was later confirmed that Trump received five more minutes of airtime than Kamala.
The candidates had previously agreed to the rule that microphones would be muted when either one is not speaking, however it appeared that the mics were often left on for Trump, who repeatedly could be heard asking to respond to Kamala's remarks.
During the debate, hosted by ABC at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the two candidates answered questions about the economy, abortion, healthcare, foreign policy, and the January 6 Capitol riot.
Fact checks from numerous news sources have said that Trump made more than 30 false claims during the debate, ranging from conspiracy theories regarding immigrants from Haiti "eating pets" in Ohio, and that Democrats want to allow women to have "execute" their babies after birth.
"There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born," Linsey reminded Trump after he made the baseless claim.
The highly-anticipated debate was the first time the two candidates were meeting face-to-face, as Trump, a former reality star, broke the transition of power tradition by refusing to attend Joe Biden's inauguration. He has since turned down a request for a second debate.
Their running mates, Tim Walz and J.D. Vance, will participate in their vice presidential debate on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.