CNN's Dana Bash admits she prepared “a lot more” for how Trump would behave in the first debate than for Biden

CNN host Dana Bash told the co-hosts of “The View” on Monday that she and co-host Jake Tapper had prepared much more than they did for how former President Trump would behave during their debate in June would have done it with President Biden.

“The View” co-host Ana Navarro asked Bash if anything else surprised her after the president left office, pointing out that Bash was at the “center” of the election cycle because of her interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and the viral conflict with Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump's running mate.

“I still can’t believe we are where we are for so many reasons. I mean, the debate, if you had told me beforehand when we were preparing, and the preparation is very intense, we would have finished. “Without Joe Biden in the race, I would have told you that you never would have believed that. We prepared much more for how Donald Trump would act and react and tried to outsmart that than we did on the Joe Biden side,” Bash responded.

Biden's hesitant, weak performance at the CNN debate led directly to his departure in July after weeks of pressure from Democrats.

CNN's Dana Bash joined “The View” on Monday and said she and host Jake Tapper had prepared more for Donald Trump's reactions than President Biden's. (Screenshot/CNN)

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Trump and Harris faced off in a debate in early September moderated by ABC News' David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Davis and Muir fact-checked Trump multiple times during the debate and failed to fact-check the vice president at all.

Davis admitted in a post-debate interview that her fact-checking of Trump was influenced by the CNN debate.

“People were concerned that the statements were just stuck and not being disputed by then-candidate Biden or the moderators,” Davis told the Los Angeles Times.

ABC presidential debate co-hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis. (ABC News)

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Bash and Tapper did not provide live fact checks during the first debate.

Harris falsely claimed during the ABC debate that there were no active U.S. troops in war or combat zones, but was not fact-checked.

“For the first time this century, there is not a single member of the United States military serving on active duty in a combat zone in any war zone in the world,” Harris claimed during the debate.

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Muir also dismissed any criticism of the moderators following their debate, saying it was just “noise.”

“With all the noise you hear afterward, you know, 'Which candidate won the debate, did the moderators win or lose?'” Muir told the audience on ABC's “Live With Kelly and Mark.” “It’s just noise. You all know that. The most important thing to remember is that you all have the power.”

Fox News' Jeffrey Clark and David Rutz contributed to this report.