US Election 2020: Presidential debate format to be changed following Trump-Biden spat

In the aftermath of the first disjointed debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, the Debate Commission has said that it will introduce certain changes to the presidential debate format.

As per reports, the Commission said on Wednesday, September 30 that the first presidential debate of US Election 2020 “made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.”

As per The Associated Press report, for the remaining two debates, the moderator might get the power to disconnect the microphone of one participant while the other is still making a point; a person familiar with the issue discussed it on the condition of anonymity. The next presidential debate in a town hall format is scheduled to take place in Miami on October 15. 

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Over 73 million people watched US presidential debate

As per reports, the Nielson Company has said that at least 73.1 million people watched the debate on television as it was broadcasted on 16 networks. The statistics showed that it was watched more than any other television event since the Super Bowl, but fell short of the 84 million who watched the first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016. It was reportedly the most-watched presidential debate ever. 

However, at various instances in the Trump-Biden debate, moderator Chris Wallace was seen battling to gain control of the discussion in Cleveland owing to frequent interruptions, mostly by the Republican leader. As per The Washington Post analysis, in the 90-minute-debate, the candidates either interrupted Wallace or their opponent at least 90 times, out of which, 71 times it was Donald Trump.

Wallace of Fox News was repeatedly requesting for more decorum. At one instance, he told the US President, “the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.” To which, Trump replied, “Ask him, too,” and then the moderator said, “Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting than he has.” Joe Biden had later called the debate “a national embarrassment”.

(With AP Inputs)

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