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Donald Trump
Donald Trump
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Donald Trump's Mic Will Be Muted During Parts of The Final Debate (Thank God)

The first debate featuring Donald Trump and Joe Biden was chaotic, it's unsurprising that new rules have been implemented.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s microphones will be muted while the other opponent is sharing opening remarks during Thursday’s presidential debate. 

This change to the format was announced on Monday by the Commission on Presidential Debates for good reason. It’s obvious that the first televised debate that took place three weeks ago led to this decision. That debate was a disaster. Throughout it Trump verbally dogwalked Biden and interrupted him frequently. The moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News struggled to keep control of the constant crosstalk. During one moment, Biden told the president to “shut up” and even called him a “clown.” 

It’s a bit difficult to imagine if Trump will stick to the new microphone rule on Thursday as personal attacks and slander are parts of his campaign strategy. The Commission hopes that both candidates will be respectful of each other’s time, per Politico

A second debate featuring both candidates was initially slated to happen, but since Trump contracted coronavirus and refused to partake in a virtual forum, it never did. We imagine he was still experiencing symptoms of the virus even if he did appear in his own televised town hall last week. Biden also hosted his own town hall that same night at the exact same time slot. 

The final debate will be structured similarly to the first one. The 90-minute event moderated by NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker will be divided into 15-minute segments. This will allow each candidate two minutes to speak freely without crosstalk at the beginning of each segment. But, there might be some messiness on the horizon since beyond those two minutes microphones will be on to generate an open discussion between Trump and Biden.

If you’re curious about the topics that’ll be addressed, Welker has planned to focus on climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to race and national security. Since race will be explored again on Thursday, we wanted to bring up the fact that Trump explicitly told the hate group, the Proud Boys to “standby” and “stand down” three weeks back at the first debate. This sinister moment immediately went viral. These remarks were a rallying cry for the white supremacists who make up a significant amount of Trump’s voters, but it was also a wake-up call for marginalized, undecided voters. If he decides to make another moment similar to this one on Thursday, we won’t be surprised. We're curious if Biden will be able to offset something like this.

The final presidential debate will take place at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee. At the moment, no news has emerged laying out precautionary measures for the forthcoming event despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.