It almost didn't seem to matter that CNN's Dana Bash and Jake Tapper were on stage for the much-awaited presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They asked pointed questions on the issues, many meticulously prepared, and they were for the most part ignored. The CNN moderators several times repeated their questions — twice by Bash in one instance. But CNN determined ahead of time they would be questioners, not umpires. And they did not attempt to fact-check a debate where both candidates frequently called the other liars. At the end of the evening, Biden's halting performance was what most people were talking about.
