On Wednesday, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that it is considering format changes for the remaining two debates after Tuesday’s debate was categorized as chaotic and lacking in any substantive policy conversation.
What We Know:
- Prior to the debates, the CPD works with both candidates and their campaign teams to create an agreed-upon set of rules for both candidates. Typically no changes to the structure come once the rules have been set, so this announcement of forthcoming change is highly unusual and a testament to just how out of control Tuesday night’s event was.
“Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the CPD said in a statement. “The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly.”
- Originally, the rules for the debates specified that the candidates would generally get two uninterrupted minutes to answer most questions, and then it would turn into an open discussion. However, from the beginning of the night, Trump began frequently interrupting Biden during his responses, and cutting into his two minutes leading the debate to quickly deteriorate.
- Immediately following the conclusion of Tuesday’s debate, people began to criticize the process and the event, debating whether it was even worth it for either candidate to participate in future debates. One TV host described the debate as “a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck”. Across social media, people claimed the only possible way to have a productive debate would be to cut off the mics of the candidates when they violate the rules, something a source close to the commission said it was considering.
- Shortly before the commission released their statement, reporters at a campaign stop in Ohio asked Democratic nominee Joe Biden if he hoped the future debates would be organized differently. “Well, you know, [Trump] not only attacked me constantly and my family, but he attacked the moderator,” Biden said. “I just hope there’s a way in which the debate commission can control the ability of us to answer the question without interruption. I’m not going to speculate on what happens in the second or third debate.”
- After the CPD released their statement, Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign communications director disagreed with the CPD, writing in a statement that the commission “shouldn’t be moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game”. Trump took to Twitter to retort that the only way to make the debates better would be to “get a new anchor and smarter Democratic candidate”.
Try getting a new Anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate! https://t.co/B9heSVV1OJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2020
- Fox News host Chris Wallace was Tuesday’s moderator and he was criticized by some for struggling to rein in the chaos. Wallace told the New York Times in an interview Wednesday that he “never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did”. Wallace agreed with the overall opinion that muting candidates’ microphones might keep things calmer and more productive, but “as a practical matter, even if the president’s microphone had been shut, he still could have continued to interrupt… and it still would have disrupted the proceedings in the hall”.
Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris will meet on October 7 for the only vice presidential debate of the election cycle. The next presidential debate will be on October 15 in Miami with a Town Hall style.
