Surprising about the debate Tuesday was the laudable job done by the moderators from ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis. In particular, they kept  bully Donald Trump in check, including with pointed remarks made at least twice that what Trump said was untrue, once when Trump went off about neighborhood dogs and cats being eaten by illegal immigrants and the other about performing abortions on babies after they are  born. Muir stepped in on the first case to say ABC was in contact with the mayor of the city where Trump was insisting the pet eating was taking place, and commented, “We’ve been in touch with the mayor who says there have been no such incidents,” which left Trump mumbling incoherently. In the second case, Davis chimed in by saying there is not a state in the U.S. where the murder of babies who have been born is not unlawful. 

Needless to say, some Trumpists howled that the two moderators should have been punished for their “partisan” remarks. But between them, and more importantly, Kamala Harris’ masterful effort over more than an hour and a half, the usual Trump bullying and intimidation tactics were not effective. On the contrary, he was reduced to a small, angry and very old highly prejudiced white male pig.