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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – The final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Thursday (Oct. 22) will feature a mute button to allow each candidate to speak without interruption, organizers said Monday, in an attempt to avoid the interruptions that marred the first confrontation.
The Trump campaign voiced objections to the change, made after the president repeatedly spoke about Biden and the moderator in last month’s debate in violation of agreed rules, but said the Republican would still participate in Thursday night’s event. , one of his last chances to reach a large primetime audience before voting ends on November 3.
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.
“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.
More than 30 million Americans have already cast their votes, limiting Trump’s ability to reframe a race that national and state opinion polls show him lagging behind.
Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden during a chaotic and moody debate on September 29, and at one point caused Biden to yell, “You wanna shut up, man?”
‘They cut you off’
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 when they want to,” he said in an Oct. 8 interview on Fox Business.
Earlier 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.
“I will participate, but it is very unfair that they have changed the topics and it is very unfair that we again have a presenter who is totally biased,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from rallies in Arizona.
NBC News’ Ms. Kristen Welker, a respected White House reporter, is slated to anchor the debate.
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.
The number of Americans who voted early reached 30.2 million on Monday, according to the University of Florida’s US Elections Project. That number represents more than a fifth of all votes cast in the 2016 election.
Early voting is likely to increase this week as more states open voting centers for those who want to avoid possible exposure to the coronavirus at busy Election Day voting sites.
In Florida, where more than 2.5 million have already voted by mail, residents lined up for the first day of early voting in person. A Reuters / Ipsos poll released last week showed that Trump and Biden are effectively tied for state, which is seen as an obligation for the president.
Hundreds of people, most wearing face masks, stood in torrential rain in the morning in front of the public library in Coral Gables, a mostly Hispanic city near Miami.
Louis Perez, 57, an insurance fraud investigator, said he was voting for Biden because of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“He lied about it from the beginning,” Perez, who is not affiliated with any party, said of Trump.
Registered Republican Antonio Sánchez, an architect who came to the United States from communist Cuba, said he supported Trump because he “defends freedom” and against socialism.
“My two daughters are doctors,” said Sánchez, 59. “I don’t think this has happened anywhere other than the United States.
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