US Presidential debate 2020: Trump, Biden to have mics muted to prevent interruptions

The Commission on Presidential debate on October 19 announced that US President Donald Trump and former US Vice President Joe Biden will have their microphones muted during some parts of the second presidential debate on October 23. A move that was indicated after the first disjointed face-off took place between both the contenders in Cleveland, is likely to disappoint Trump who had initially opposed any change in the existing rules. 

As per Associated Press report, in the final Trump-Biden debate before the US Elections 2020, the mics will be muted when their rival is delivering the opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics. In the basic format, the 90-minute debate is divided into six segments of 15 minutes each and the candidates get at least two minutes to put forth their views, uninterrupted. Then they proceed to open the debate which will reportedly not feature a mute button.  However, interruptions by either candidate will be counted towards their time in the face-off on October 23. 

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The mute feature came after the candidates held a chaotic first presidential debate with interruptions mostly by Donald Trump. So much so, that moderator Chris Wallace was seen battling to gain control of the discussion. As per The Washington Post analysis, in the 90-minute-debate last month, the candidates either interrupted Wallace or their opponent at least 90 times, out of which, 71 times it was the Republican leader.

Even though Trump’s team was opposing any changes, Biden camp was reportedly hoping for a more structured debate. As quoted by AP, the Debate Commission said in a statement that it had “determined that it is appropriate to adopt measures intended to promote adherence to agreed upon rules and inappropriate to make changes to those rules”.  

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Trump thinks it’s ‘unfair’

As per CNN report, when Donald Trump was asked about the update on debate rules on October 19, he told the reporters that he will participate but added, “I think it’s very unfair.” Meanwhile, Trump campaign’s communications director Time Murtaugh charged, without any proof, that the decision made by the Debate Commission is an “attempt to provide an advantage to their favoured candidate.” However, Murtaugh assured that the Republican contender is “committed to debating Joe Biden” irrespective of the change. 

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