The head of the Commission on Presidential Debates has some advice for debate moderators this fall: leave the fact-checking to the candidates.
Janet Brown, executive director of the commission, told CNN’s Brian Stelter that moderators should let the candidates check one another on “accuracy and fairness.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get the moderator into essentially serving as the Encyclopedia Britannica,” Brown said Sunday on “Reliable Sources.”
Related: Matt Lauer ups ante for debate moderators
While Brown said the commission depends on “independent, smart journalists” to make their own decisions about how to moderate, she said that historically, correcting the record has been left to the candidates.
Brown’s comments came a day ahead of this year’s first presidential debate, which will be moderated by NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
The role Holt and other moderators should play on stage has been called into question in recent weeks.
Holt’s NBC colleague Matt Lauer was widely criticized earlier this month for his handling of a “Commander-in-Chief Forum” with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Lauer did not correct Trump on the Republican nominee’s false claim that he had opposed the Iraq war.
Related: How Lester Holt is getting ready for Monday’s debate
But not everyone supports the idea of a moderator who fact-checks in real time from the stage.
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who will moderate the final presidential debate next month, said he won’t fact-check because “it’s not my job to be a truth squad.”
By contrast, when she was serving as a moderator in 2012 former CNN anchor Candy Crowley fact-checked a statement by Republican nominee Mitt Romney about President Obama — a controversial moment that benefited the president.
CNN’s Dylan Byers contributed to this report.
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