Trump Campaign Demands Additional Discussion Rule: Third-party observers to detect electronic devices in candidates’ ears


CLEVELAND – President Trump is seeking additional ground rule ahead of Tuesday night’s first presidential debate between himself and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. But the Biden campaign is denying it.

Fox News has learned that the presidential re-election campaign wants the Biden campaign to allow a third party to check every debater’s ear for electronic devices or transmitters. The president has agreed to such an inspection, but a source said the Biden campaign has denied an ear check.

There is no handshake between the two and Trump

The Trump campaign, hours before the debate, claimed that Biden’s campaign had agreed to such an inspection before reversing itself.

“Biden’s handlers agreed to pre-debate inspections for electronic earpieces several days ago, but today they abruptly reversed and rejected him. “Biden’s handlers called for multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump does not need, so we have rejected that request,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtu. That Biden team has discovered a safety net that it can detect in hours of discussion. With his 47 years as Washington’s failed politician, how much help does Biden need?

In the last few weeks, the former vice president’s campaign has called for a one-two break every 30 minutes to break the 90-minute commercial free program. But that request has been denied by his Trump counterparts, Fox News is told.

A Trump campaign source told Fox News: “Our guy doesn’t need a break. He gives 90 minutes of speech every time.”

Mock Debaters are on stage in Cleveland on Monday, September 28, 2020, as preparations for the first presidential debate take place in the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion.  The first round of talks between President Donald Trump and the Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President J. B. Biden, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29.  (AP Photo / Patrick Semensky)

Mock Debaters are on stage in Cleveland on Monday, September 28, 2020, as preparations for the first presidential debate take place in the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion. The first discussion between President Donald Trump and the Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29. (AP Photo / Patrick Semensky)

And sources say negotiations for Tuesday night’s talks are still ongoing – as well as the remaining two shutdowns between Biden and Trump.

Fox News reaches out to the Commission on Presidential Debates – a bilateral organization that has organized and produced discussions for more than three decades in response to requests for two campaigns.

The commission has traditionally pushed against the network’s requests for a business break.

The first discussion of the three between Biden and Trump – will take place at 9pm on Tuesday night and is being hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The show has seemed a bit unfocused in recent episodes of Fox News Sunday.

John Roberts of Fox News contributed to this report.