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(COMBO) This combination of stock footage created on September 29, 2020 shows former US Vice President and Democratic hopeful Joe Biden (left) speaking about Covid-19, during a press event in Wilmington, Delaware on March 12, 2020, and US President Donald Trump speaking during a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Conference Room at the White House in Washington, DC on August 19, 2020. – No there will be a handshake, but venom to spare when President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden meet in Cleveland on September 29, 2020 for the first of three televised debates that could shake an already volatile race for the White House. The Covid-19 restrictions will give the debate moderated by Fox News star Chris Wallace a streamlined appearance with a smaller audience. Naturally, there will be no standard display of goodwill, even if occasionally forced, in a handshake as rivals take the stage. (Photos by SAUL LOEB and Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
WASHINGTON, DC, United States – Upcoming rounds of US presidential debates will be “more orderly,” organizers promised Wednesday, as the moderator of Cleveland’s toxic showdown between President Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden admitted that had been derailed.
“Last night’s debate made it clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the Committee on Presidential Debates said in a statement.
The commission said it would soon announce measures “to ensure that additional tools are available to maintain order in the remaining debates.”
This followed a collapse in the first of three 90-minute clashes between Trump and his Democratic rival. Trump spoke repeatedly about Biden, who was exasperated and called him a “clown.”
At one point, Biden told the president to “shut up.”
The moderator, seasoned Fox News interviewer Chris Wallace, often seemed at a loss when pleading with Trump in particular to abide by the rules agreed in advance by both campaigns.
Wallace admitted that he was not prepared for the chaos.
“I never dreamed that he would get off the track like he did,” he told The New York Times.
Trump was widely expected to bring a style similar to the one he employs at rallies and press conferences, where his outsized personality and tendency to insult critics are unlike any president in memory.
But Wallace said he wasn’t expecting a relentless barrage of interruptions and a refusal to stick to the agreed-upon question format.
“I guess I didn’t realize – and there was no way you could, in 20/20 hindsight – that this was going to be the president’s strategy, not just for the beginning of the debate but for the entire debate,” Wallace said.
“I’m a professional. I’ve never been through something like this.”
The debating committee won’t necessarily have an easy task changing the tone for the next two sessions, scheduled for October 15 and 22, unless the candidates cooperate.
There are suggestions that moderators might have the power to temporarily turn off a candidate’s microphone. But Wallace pointed out that even if he had turned off Trump’s, the president could still have continued to speak out loud about Biden, who was within walking distance.
As for Trump, he declared himself the winner and said the night in Cleveland had gone well.
“The debate last night was great. We received tremendous criticism, “Trump told reporters, without identifying the positive reactions.
The president called it “an exciting night. I see the ratings were very high and it was good to be there. “
An estimated 73.1 million people in the United States watched the two candidates go head-to-head on television Tuesday night, according to data firm Nielsen.
Some Democrats and media personalities have called on Biden to boycott upcoming debates, but the former vice president’s side told US media Wednesday that they still plan to participate.
Trump said he wants to move on with them.
“I’d like to. In all respects we won the debate easily last night,” he said.
A CBS sample of 1,039 likely voters who saw the mess saw Biden outperform Trump by 48 percent to 41 percent, a margin similar to national polls heading into the Nov. 3 election.
And in a line similar to the invective launched in both directions on Tuesday, Trump declared that Biden “seemed weak. I was whining. “
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