Shapiro said Biden had a 'bad debate night' but Trump was a 'bad president'
Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro hits CNN for not calling out Trump's 'lies' during debate with Biden
Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro criticized CNN for not correcting former President Trump for comments that he made during the debate with President Biden on Thursday night.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday criticized CNN for not correcting comments former President Trump made during the debate with President Biden.
"Frankly, I think CNN could have a done a better job in calling [Trump's] lies out," said Shapiro, who some columnists have put forward as a leading candidate to replace Biden.
"Joe Biden had a bad debate night, but Donald Trump was a bad president," Shapiro told CNN. "I‘ll be the first to admit that that was not a good look in that debate last night."
MEDIA FIGURES SHOCKED AT BIDEN'S 'BAD' DEBATE PERFORMANCE: 'TOTAL AND COMPLETE DISASTER'
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro criticized CNN for not correcting former President Trump for comments he made during the debate with President Biden. (CNN)
CNN host John Berman asked Shapiro whether Biden was "capable" of leading the campaign to beat Trump in November.
"He is," Shapiro said. "Certainly, we need to be crisper in delivering that message and the president has a responsibility to do that along with the rest of us."
"Have they explained to you — the Biden campaign — what happened and why?" Berman asked.
"Well, I think the Biden campaign should speak for themselves," Shapiro said.
Shapiro also refused to engage with Berman on whether he could replace Biden as the leading candidate for the Democratic Party.
"Do you think you could beat Donald Trump in a general election?" Berman asked Shapiro.
"I‘m not going to engage in that hypothetical," the governor responded. "I'm all in."
A flash poll conducted by CNN following Thursday night's presidential debate showed Trump as the victor over Biden. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Shapiro also refused to tell Berman the exact messages that he received from friends and confidants in response to Biden's debate performance.
"The bottom line here is that there is a clear contrast in this race, and we have a responsibility to prosecute the case against Donald Trump, not get caught up in any hand-wringing right now, stop worrying and start working," the governor told Berman.
A flash poll conducted by CNN following Thursday night's presidential debate showed Trump as the victor over Biden.
The CNN poll posted on air showed that 67% of debate watchers felt that Trump won the debate compared to 33% who believed Biden won.
The Biden campaign declined to comment following a request from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
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