ABC News’ Linsey Davis has been under scrutiny for going easier on presidential nominee Kamala Harris than Donald Trump while moderating the recent debate, and it turns out the two have a connection that may have played a role.
Although working for a mainstream media news outlet like ABC and being chosen by them to moderate such a crucial debate should tell you everything you need to know about her views, the fact that Harris and Davis were members of the same exclusive sorority and have met before adds even more fuel to the growing allegations of bias in the debate's moderation.
Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, a prestigious historically black sorority, as an undergraduate at Howard University, while Davis joined when she was an undergrad at the University of Virginia. The women are believed to have met at least once prior to a one-on-one interview they took part in last year, and Harris has said that she thinks of AKA as family in the past.
The sorority formed a political action committee in August after Harris was named the official presidential nominee for the Democrat party in an unusual move that enables them to accept donations of up to $5,000 from their members and families to support political parties.
The connection was not mentioned by ABC during or before the debate. However, it was acknowledged during ABC News’ coverage of Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, when George Stephanopoulos brought up the pearl earrings Harris was wearing with Davis.
“It’s a sorority thing, I don’t understand it at all, so you have to explain it to everybody—you’re a sorority sister of Kamala Harris.”
Davis replied: “Right, well, you know, pearls are a symbol of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., which she pledged while she was at Howard University, and the strand of pearls is symbolic of the unity and the sisterhood."
Harris reportedly hosted some AKA sisters in 2022 at the vice president’s residence, and she sat out a joint session of Congress addressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July in favor of addressing the AKA 71st Boule gathering.
Davis accused of favoring Harris in debate moderation
Davis has been under intense scrutiny for her handling of the two candidates, particularly when she corrected Trump after he made a comment about some Democrats being in favor of abortion after birth.
Davis responded: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” which prompted numerous observers to point out that six states, along with the District of Columbia, do not have any limits on when abortions can be carried out.
At the same time, she was also accused of failing to point out when Harris made sketchy claims, such as when she said that Trump put women’s access to IVF treatments in danger and that police died during the J6 Capitol incident.
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who worked for President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “ABC is making a huge mistake trying to fact check this live. They’re only proving how biased they are. Harris fabricated an attack on Trump over IVF. ABC sat there and said nothing.”
She and co-host David Muir also failed to call Harris out when she misquoted Trump’s comments about the state of the American auto industry under another Biden presidency, falsely claiming that Trump threatened there would be a “bloodbath” if he loses the election.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.