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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump noted Thursday (October 1) that he may not accept changes to the rules for upcoming presidential debates that organizers have said will be necessary to reign in rebellious behavior.
Following a chaotic debate Tuesday in which Trump interrupted and spoke regularly about his Democratic challenger Joe Biden and the moderator, the US presidential debating committee said it would adopt changes to allow for a “more orderly discussion” with the upcoming debate scheduled for October. 15 in Miami.
There was immediate speculation that this could include a mute button to limit the interruptions that plagued the initial meeting between Trump and Biden, the first of three before the November election.
But Trump asked in a tweet Thursday: “Why would I allow the Debating Commission to change the rules for the second and third Debates when I won easily last time?”
It did not indicate whether a rule change would affect its participation or not. Both campaigns agreed on the rules of Tuesday night’s debate, which had provided for six 15-minute sections in which each candidate had two minutes to answer a question before starting back and forth.
READ: ‘No one won’: Conservatives in Biden’s hometown were left cold by Trump debate
Tuesday’s 90-minute standoff drew widespread criticism of Trump and, to a lesser extent, of Biden. The Republican president repeatedly harassed Biden and questioned his intelligence, while the Democratic candidate called Trump a racist, a liar and the worst president in history.
The two candidates will meet at the polls on November 3. While Biden leads Trump in most national public opinion polls, the polls also show the two are head-to-head in various states that could determine the winner of the contest.
More than 2 million voters have already cast their votes, and an increase in early and mail voting is expected this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
