In a release by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the organization announced it will mute presidential nominees’ microphones “to avoid interruptions” during the final presidential debate.
“ … the Commission has considered the opinion of many who expressed concern that the debate fell short of expectations, depriving voters of the opportunity to be informed of the candidates’ positions on the issues,” CPD said in its statement. “They advocated a variety of changes that could be introduced for subsequent debates, including the turning off of microphones to avoid interruptions.”
The CPD said the only live microphone during the debate will be the candidate who has the floor for the two-minute period. However, during the open discussion, both microphones will be live.
President Donald Trump told reporters, though he still agrees to participate, the changes are “very unfair.”
“I’ll participate, I just think it is very unfair,” Trump said.
Topics, according to CPD, during the upcoming debate include:
- Fighting COVID-19
- American Families
- Race in America
- Climate Change
- National Security
- Leadership
Topics discussed during the previous debate on Sept. 29, 2020, include:
- The Trump and Biden Records
- The Supreme Court
- Covid-19
- The Economy
- Race and Violence in our Cities
- The Integrity of the Election
CPD said “it is appropriate to adopt measures intended to promote adherence to agreed upon rules and inappropriate to make changes to those rules.”
President Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, released a statement clarifying the president is still committed to debate presidential nominee Joe Biden, “regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide an advantage to their favored candidate.”
Stepien said the upcoming debate was supposed to cover foreign policy. According to the CPD, the topics
“ … the President still looks forward to forcing Biden to answer the number one relevant question of whether he’s been compromised by the Communist Party of China,” Stepien said in the statement. “Why did Biden allow his son Hunter to sell access to him while he was Vice President, and why were there Chinese payment arrangements for Joe himself worked out by Hunter and his sketchy partners? If the media won’t ask Joe Biden these questions, the President will, and there will be no escape for Biden.”
The next presidential debate is set for 8 p.m. on Thursday.
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