To the Commission on Presidential Debates:

A May 5, 2020 article in Forbes by David Markowitz,Trump Is Lying More Than Ever: Just Look at the Data, indicates that the current president of the United States has lied an average of 23.8 times a day since the first COVID-19 case in the United States was diagnosed. A July 13, 2020 article in The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelly, President Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims, again registers untruthful or misleading remarks at an average of 23 claims per day. "It took President Trump 827 days to top 10,000 false and misleading claims in The Fact Checkers database, an average of 12 claims a day. But on July 9, 440 days later, the president crossed the 20,000 mark" are the lead paragraphs in this story.

Members of reputable American media outlets began identifying these statements immediately after the 2017 inauguration. Following just 100 days in office, The Washington Post Fact Checker team identified 492 “false or misleading” claims. These claims are finally being called what they are by some outlets after Trump has been in office more than three years—lies. 

This pattern was part of Donald Trump’s behavior long before taking office. His behaviors of the past three and a half years have disqualified him from participating in the upcoming presidential debates without being fact checked throughout the debates. 

This letter was written to the commission on August 30, but the author was pleased and encouraged when, during an afternoon news conference on September 2, 2020, former Vice-President Joe Biden suggested that a crawling banner run across the bottom of the screen during each televised debate due to President Trump’s penchant for lying. The crawling banner was a direct suggestion, the summary is approximate, and “penchant for lying” are the author's words. Biden suggested that both candidates be constantly fact-checked by a pre-selected group.

We ask that the Commission on Presidential Debates takes the following actions on behalf of all Americans:

            ➤   create a three- or five-member fact-checking team to serve at all debates

            ➤   create processes for fact-checking during each debate

 A) dark banner/white letters crawling the screen to identify false or misleading information in real time throughout the debates

B) televised verbal explanations for lies and misrepresentations of greater consequence spoken by either candidate to be provided by debate moderator or designated member of the fact-checking team, during televised portion of debate—not commercial breaks

This may be an unprecedented move, but these are unprecedented times. Those signing this petition value truth first and foremost when politicians are discussing issues. Many Americans have grown tired of the toxic environment in much of our land and simply don’t watch network news, follow news online, or read newspapers; many of these people, however, will tune into each presidential debate. The safeguards suggested above will equip viewers who may not be well-versed in current events with the capacity to weigh and analyze responses made by both presidential candidates and further understand their positions.

American citizens cannot afford to ignore the lies uttered by Donald Trump at any level, but most particularly as he attempts to gain another four years in office by defending his actions and his policies at these debates. Please help the American people understand the issues highlighted at the presidential debates when they are presented dishonestly. Please implement procedures such as those above so untruthful information will be clarified in real time when presented as truth.

We call upon the Commission on Presidential Debates to take the unprecedented but necessary steps described above and requested by our former vice-president in order to make the debates a useful educational tool for the populace.

Thank you!

[Image by Gerd Altmann at pixabay.com]