The Commission on Presidential Debates said they would change the format of upcoming debates after President Donald Trump derailed Tuesday’s affair by repeatedly interrupting Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“The Commission on Presidential Debates sponsors televised debates for the benefit of the American electorate,” the organization said in a statement. “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 will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly” the statement added. “The Commission is grateful to Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night’s debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates.”
Will mics be cut off?
One change being considered by the commission is allowing moderators to cut off the candidates’ microphones if they break the rules, according to CBS News.
The plan has not been finalized and there are still discussions about how the commission would implement the change.
The campaigns will be informed of the rules but there will be no negotiations, according to the report.
The next debate is a town hall format, in which voters will ask questions, and will be moderated by C-SPAN host Steve Scully.
Chris Wallace doubts it’ll help:
Moderator Chris Wallace told the New York Times that he doubts that cutting off Trump’s mic would stop him.
"As a practical matter, even if the president's microphone had been shut, he still could have continued to interrupt, and it might well have been picked up on Biden's microphone, and it still would have disrupted the proceedings in the hall," he said.
