On Wednesday, CBS’s After Midnight host Taylor Tomlinson claimed to have a rather Freudian reaction to Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. As Vance attempted to fact-check the CBS moderators’ fact-check, he had his microphone cut, leading Tomlinson to claim, “Yes, I masturbated to this.”

Tomlinson teed up a clip of the debate by claiming, “The only exciting moment was when one of the moderators fact-checked JD Vance.”

In the clip, Margaret Brennan declared, “Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status, Norah?”

 

 

Vance then tried to get a rebuttal in before frustratingly reminding her and Norah O’Donnell, “Margaret, I think it’s important, Margaret, the rules were you guys weren’t going fact-check.”

Tomlinson ended the clip there, but Vance went on to explain the CBP One app, which he described as an “Kamala Harris open border wand.” Still, Tomlinson replied to the truncated clip, “This is like a guy getting caught cheating and then saying, ‘But you said you'd never go through my phone! The trust is gone!’ Vance went on so long that the moderators had to cut his mic.

It’s not like that at all, but regardless, Tomlinson played a second clip:

VANCE: The CBP One app has not been on the books [mic cut] since 1990. It's something that—

BRENNAN: Gentlemen, the audience cannot hear you because your mics are cut. We have so much we want to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process.

The point about 1990 was a fact-check of Walz’s attempt to counter Vance, but a detailed policy discussion about CPB One is beyond the reach of a host whose show usually revolves around memes and TikTok videos, “And before anyone asks, yes, I masturbated to this. A woman, silencing men? Yeah, that's going in the spank bank. Yeah. "Thank you for explaining the legal process" also sounds so familiar. If you've ever been on a date with a man, it's all they want to hear. ‘Thank you for explaining Steely Dan’ or ‘Thank you for explaining crypto.’”

Most people, men or women, also don’t hide behind their gender when someone challenges them. Not only did the moderators go back on the word not to fact-check, the content of their fact-check was, as other fact-checkers like to say, “missing context,” which is why moderators shouldn’t fact-check in the first place. As for CBS comedy show hosts, they can spare us the details of what they do when they are alone.

Here is a transcript for the October 2 show:

CBS After Midnight

10/3/2024

12:40 AM ET

TAYLOR TOMLINSON: The only exciting moment was when one of the moderators fact-checked JD Vance.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status, Norah?

JD VANCE: Margaret—

BRENNAN: Senator, we have so much to get to.

VANCE: Margaret, I think it’s important because—

NORAH O’DONNELL: We're going to turn now to the economy. Thank you.

VANCE: Margaret, I think it’s important, Margaret, the rules were you guys weren’t going fact-check.

TOMLINSON: This is like a guy getting caught cheating and then saying "But you said you'd never go through my phone! The trust is gone!" Vance went on so long that the moderators had to cut his mic.

BRENNAN: Thank you, gentlemen.

VANCE: The CBP One app has not been on the books [mic cut] since 1990. It's something that—

BRENNAN: Gentlemen, the audience cannot hear you because your mics are cut. We have so much we want to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process.

TOMLINSON: And before anyone asks, yes, I masturbated to this. A woman, silencing men? Yeah, that's going in the spank bank. Yeah. "Thank you for explaining the legal process" also sounds so familiar. If you've ever been on a date with a man, it's all they want to hear. "Thank you for explaining Steely Dan" or "Thank you for explaining crypto."