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WASHINGTON: Thursday’s debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will feature a mute button to allow each candidate to speak without interruption, organizers said Monday, in a bid to avoid the interruptions that marred the first showdown. .
The Presidential Debate Committee said each candidate’s microphone would be muted to allow the other to make two minutes of opening remarks at the beginning of each 15-minute segment of the debate.
Both microphones will turn on to allow a swap after that time.
The Trump campaign opposed the change, but said it would still participate.
“President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute changes to the bias commission rules in his latest attempt to give his favorite candidate an advantage,” said campaign manager Bill Stepien.
Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest developments.
The news came on the day that the number of Americans who voted before Election Day on November 3 surpassed the 30 million mark and when Trump tries to rethink a contest in which national and state opinion polls show him to behind.
Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden during a hot-tempered and chaotic debate on September 29, and Biden responded with insults.
Trump withdrew from a second debate scheduled for last Thursday over a disagreement over the virtual format following his Covid-19 infection. At that time, he expressed concern about having his microphone muted.
“You sit behind a computer and have a debate; it’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want,” Trump said in an Oct. 8 interview on Fox Business.
On Monday, the Trump campaign said it was unhappy with the set of issues announced for Thursday’s debate, arguing that it should focus more on foreign policy and complaining that the nonpartisan group was leaning toward Biden.
Biden’s campaign said both parties previously agreed to allow moderators to choose topics. He said Trump wanted to avoid discussing his administration of the coronavirus pandemic, which according to polls is the main problem for voters.
“As usual, the president is more concerned with the rules of a debate than getting a nation in crisis to get the help it needs,” said Biden’s spokesman TJ Ducklo.
