At the next debate, candidates will be muted when it isn't their turn to talk, so we won't have a repeat of Trump steamrolling Joe Biden and the moderator.
The format this time will be similar to the format of the first debate last month. Each candidate will be given two minutes to make an opening statement answering the moderator’s question, then two minutes to respond to their opponent. During this time, the candidate who isn’t supposed to be speaking will be on mute. Once the responses are over and free debate begins, both mics will stay on.
From the Commission’s letter, it sounds like they anticipated possible pushback and got ahead of it. “We realize, after discussions with both campaigns, that neither campaign may be totally satisfied with the measures announced today,” the statement read. “One may think they go too far, and one may think they do not go far enough. We are comfortable that these actions strike the right balance and that they are in the interest of the American people, for whom these debates are held.
The question now is whether the rule change will prompt Trump to throw another tantrum and refuse to participate. Before the microphone rule was even announced, his campaign sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates complaining about a wide number of issues. The campaign didn’t like that the debate will cover six topics chosen by the moderator, even though both campaigns agreed to the format months ago.
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