Trump campaign rejects changing debate rules after chaotic Cleveland encounter

President Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday rejected calls to tweak the rules of the next two debates between him and Democratic challenger Joe Biden after a first matchup marred by constant interruptions and outbursts. "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 is seeking re-election to a second term in November.


Reuters | Washington DC | Updated: 02-10-2020 02:16 IST | Created: 02-10-2020 02:10 IST
Trump campaign rejects changing debate rules after chaotic Cleveland encounter
US President Donald Trump (File photo) Image Credit: ANI
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President Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday rejected calls to tweak the rules of the next two debates between him and Democratic challenger Joe Biden after a first matchup marred by constant interruptions and outbursts. Following Tuesday night's debate that saw Trump regularly interrupt and talk over both Biden as well as the moderator, America's presidential debates commission said it would adopt changes to allow for a "more orderly discussion" with the next debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami.

There was immediate speculation that could include a mute button to limit the interruptions that plagued the initial encounter between Trump and Biden, the first of three before the Nov. 3 election. "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.

He did not indicate whether a change in rules would affect whether or not he participated. Both campaigns agreed to the rules 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. "We don’t want any changes," Trump senior campaign adviser Jason Miller said on a conference call with reporters about the debates. Campaign officials did not respond to a question about whether Trump would agree to abide by the existing rules.

The 90-minute face-off on Tuesday 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 is seeking re-election to a second term in November. 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.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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