Trump and Biden mics to be cut while opponent speaks at debate, Internet says 'won't stop POTUS from shouting'
President Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off during the final presidential debate of October 22 while their opponent delivers the initial two-minute answers to the debate topic, the commission on presidential debates announced on Monday, October 19. According to the commission, both microphones will be on during the open-discussion segments of the debate. The commission released a statement where they said, "we realize, after discussions with both campaigns, that neither campaign may be totally satisfied with the measures announced today." "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 statement continued.
Trump and Biden's last debate was chaotic as the president continuously interrupted, leading to people demanding that the debate moderator has the ability to cut off each candidate's mics while the other speaks. In the statement, the commission revealed that both camps had agreed to give each candidate two minutes of uninterrupted time in order to make remarks at the start of each 15-minute segment of the debate.
Post the first presidential debate in Cleveland on September 29, the commission also signaled that 'additional structure' should be added to bring in more order. Trump and his campaign have slammed the commission saying that they are biased with his campaign manager, Bill Stepien arguing the rule change. In a statement, Stepien had said, "President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate. This was supposed to be the foreign policy debate, so the president still looks forward to forcing Biden to answer the number one relevant question of whether he’s been compromised by the Communist Party of China."
Many social media users have taken to the comments section to express their views in light of the decision to have both mics cut off as and when needed. One such user wrote, "Pretty sad that its come to this since 2 grown a** men can’t follow simple rules!" "Finally! They should have done this before the VP debate," wrote another social media user. Another user commented on how it would not stop Trump from yelling anyway and shared, "It is cute how the Presidential Debate Commission believes muting Trump's microphone will stop him from shouting at Joe Biden anyway."
Pretty sad that its come to this since 2 grown ass men can’t follow simple rules!
— Prudence (@PrudenceScott00) October 20, 2020
Finally! They should have done this before the VP debate.
— Dan Gerous (@nonegoodleft) October 20, 2020
It is cute how the Presidential Debate Commission believes muting Trump's microphone will stop him from shouting at Joe Biden anyway.
— Peter Craven (@Crusher_Craven) October 20, 2020
Another social media user who echoed the same sentiments chimed in, "Maybe it's just me, but cutting Trump's microphone will not stop a narcissist from being disruptive. They always find a way as long as they're in the same room. I wanna be wrong, but'll be surprised if I am." "Lol it’s still gonna be a s**t show during the 'open mic' times you can expect more of the same interruptions from Trump as he did last time," said another.
Maybe its just me, but cutting Trump's microphone will not stop a narcissist from being disruptive. They always find a way as long as they'er in the same room. I wanna be wrong, but'll be surprised if I am.
— Maurice McKinney (@LuccaF) October 20, 2020
Lol it’s still gonna be a shit show during the “open mic” times you can expect more of the same interruptions from Trump as he did last time
— Stacy NYC (@Hustlediva1) October 20, 2020
On Monday, October 19, Trump's campaign sent a letter objecting to the selected topics for Thursday's debate and said that both campaigns had agreed that the subject would be foreign policy. They claimed that the other topics benefit Biden and little focuses on foreign policy. Stepien wrote in the letter, "It is completely irresponsible for the Commission to alter the focus of this final debate just days before the event."