Dana Bash and Jake Tapper let candidates be the ‘stars of the show’

News Snapshot:

The microphones were muted. So were the moderators. Despite all the CNN logos filling viewers’ screens, and the non-stop hype that the network had piled onto Thursday’s prime time debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash mostly receded into the background as they moderated. There were virtually no real-time fact-checks of Trump’s numerous baseless assertions. At tense moments, the moderators deferred to the candidates to directly address each other’s claims. And the concerns that Trump might pick a show-stopping fight with his CNN interlocutors proved unfounded. Tapper’s name was mentioned only...