Trump rejects change to rules despite chaos and
cringe of first debate
President interrupted and talked over Biden and
moderator
Commission wants changes for ‘more orderly discussion’
Joan E
Greve in Washington and agencies
@joanegreve
Thu 1 Oct
2020 22.40 BSTLast modified on Thu 1 Oct 2020 23.17 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/trump-debate-rules-joe-biden
Trump on Thursday on his way to his club in
Bedminster, New Jersey. He said on Twitter: “Why would I allow the debate
commission to change the rules … when I easily won last time?’
Donald
Trump’s re-election campaign has rejected calls to change the rules of the next
two presidential debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden after the first
chaotic event in Cleveland was marred by constant interruptions and outbursts.
Tuesday
night’s debate, the first of three before the Nov. 3 election, saw Trump
regularly interrupt and talk over both Biden as well as the moderator,
prompting America’s presidential debates commission to announce it would adopt
changes to allow for a “more orderly discussion”. The next presidential debate
is scheduled for 15 October in Miami.
“We don’t
want any changes,” Trump senior campaign adviser Jason Miller said on a
conference call with reporters.
Trump
deputy campaign manager Max Miller said the Biden campaign is pushing for
opening and closing statements and a mute button for when candidates ignore the
structure of the debate.
Campaign
manager Bill Stepien said it was “not history” for the commission to change the
rules after a debate has been held. The president also signaled he would oppose
any rules changes.
“Why would
I allow the debate commission to change the rules for the second and third
debates when I easily won last time?” Trump asked in a tweet on Thursday.
Miller said
Trump would still appear at the debates, but made clear the campaign would
oppose any attempts to change the rules.
Both
campaigns agreed to the format of Tuesday’s debate, which had envisioned six
15-minute sections in which each candidate had two minutes to answer a question
without interruption before beginning a back-and-forth.
The
90-minute face-off triggered widespread criticism of Trump and, to a lesser
extent, Biden. The Republican president repeatedly bullied Biden and questioned
his intelligence, while the Democratic nominee called Trump a racist, a liar
and the worst president ever.
In a
statement on Wednesday, the debates commission said it would announce changes
to the debate format soon.
Biden
campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said the former vice president would
participate in upcoming debates under the rules laid out by the debates
commission.
“The only
real question left is whether the President will start following the rules in
the next two debates,” Bates said in an email.
Trump also
sparked widespread outrage on Tuesday when he declined to condemn white
supremacists. On Thursday, Fox News’s John Roberts asked White House press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany if she would denounce white supremacy in all forms
on behalf of the president, who had told an extremist far-right group to “stand
back and stand by” during Tuesday’s debate.
McEnany
declined to do so, instead reading out past quotes from the president and
attacking the media for asking about the controversy.
While Biden
leads Trump in most national public opinion polls, polls also show that the two
are neck and neck in several states that could determine the winner of the
contest.
More than 2
million voters have already cast ballots, with a surge of early and mail voting
expected this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden
campaign announced Thursday it will launch in-person canvassing efforts in
several battleground states. It comes as the Trump campaign’s canvassing work
has sparked concerns among some of Biden’s allies about Republicans
outnumbering Democrats in voter registration.
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