The CPD announced Monday that US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would have their microphones turned off during their final debate on Thursday while the other candidate is speaking, Sputnik reported.
Each candidate will be given two uninterrupted minutes at the beginning of each topic to give their answer to the question before the other candidate’s microphone is unmuted to allow a back-and-forth exchange between them. The commission’s rules have always provided for this, but only in this election cycle have the candidates decided to totally ignore those rules.
The first and only debate thus far between the two nominees was not well received by viewers, many of whom slammed moderator Chris Wallace’s inability to keep the September 29 event on track.
The US president’s vocal opposition to the CPD may ultimately result in another cancellation. However, his campaign claimed on Monday evening that regardless of the last-minute rule changes, Trump was committed to debating Biden again before the election.
Trump and his campaign have been on the offensive in regard to the CPD’s handling of the debates. The US president refused to participate in a virtual debate on October 15 and even suggested that he and Biden organize debates without the nonprofit corporation, which receives funding from Democrats and Republicans.
“The Trump campaign is lying about that now because Donald Trump is afraid to face more questions about his disastrous COVID response. As usual, the president is more concerned with the rules of a debate than he is getting a nation in crisis the help it needs," according to Biden's press secretary.
RHM/PR