Muted Mics For Upcoming POTUS Debate, Commission Rules; Will Trump Still Attend?

2020 presidential debates is just about here. After a chaotic first matchup between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, a more subdued (but still buzzy) vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, and dueling Trump-Biden town hall events in lieu of a second debate, the whole process has felt long and, at times, extremely disorderly.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are set to meet one last time before the election. After the originally scheduled second presidential debate was canceled due to Trump refusing to participate in a virtual format — a change that was made after the president tested positive for COVID-19 — the would-be third debate between the candidates is set to take place on Thursday, Oct.

speak uninterrupted for two minutes at the top of each 15-minute segment.Late Monday night, Trump’s re-election campaign put out a statement that called the new rule “biased,” but affirms the incumbent candidate’s plan to attend.Also Read: Trump and Biden's Mics to Be Muted at Times During Next Debate“President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate,” said

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday’s debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics. The 90-minute debate is divided into six 15-minute segments, with each candidate granted two minutes to deliver uninterrupted remarks before proceeding to an open debate.

The next Presidential Debate will have brand new rules attached to it, including one which will have muted microphones.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe Commission on Presidential Debates announced new rules on Monday intended to allow the candidates to speak uninterrupted at the final debate on Thursday.Under the new rules, each candidate will have two minutes to address each of six topics.

Ted Johnson Donald Trump and Joe Biden are scheduled to meet again on Thursday for the second and presumably last debate, and the president’s campaign has again weighed in with complaints about the format.Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, wrote in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates that the focus of the next event should be on foreign policy, not on the list of topics selected by moderator Kristen Welker.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsSaturday Night Live took on the competing ABC Joe Biden and NBC Donald Trump town halls during its latest episode.  The show kicked off with a cold opening that saw Alex Baldwin reprise his role as 45 and Jim Carrey transform into the Democratic presidential nominee and former vice president.The jokes about the conflicting town halls found its way into the latest “Weekend Update” installation.

Ted Johnson The opener of Saturday Night Live was a skewering of the competing town halls between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.It was an easy target: There was an outcry earlier this week when NBC scheduled a town hall with Trump against one already planned on ABC with Biden. But Savannah Guthrie, moderating the NBC News event, earned widespread praise for pressing Trump with questions and followups.Kate McKinnon, playing Guthrie, opened by saying, “Good evening America.

Jimmy Kimmel joined the chorus of Hollywood entertainers calling out NBC and its decision to air a “dueling” town hall for Trump directly against Joe Biden’s previously scheduled ABC event. With many of his fellow hosts on break, including NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, the face of ABC late night took solo shots at the Peacock network during his opening monologue Thursday.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump had town halls at the exact same time on Thursday (October 15) (despite petitions and protests from Hollywood stars to stagger the time slots), and Biden easily won in the ratings department.

During President Donald Trump's town hall on Thursday, current and former showrunners, producers and stars — including a handful of current and former NBC talent — who signed aletter of protest against the event continued to criticize the network for its decision and how the event played out. More than 100 top figures in the industry had criticized the network on Wednesday for choosing to air the town hall during the same day and time as ABC'stown hall with former vice president Joe Biden.

President Trump said his position on wearing masks has not changed since he contracted COVID-19during his town hall on NBC on Thursday, timed to compete with presidential contender rival Joe Biden's on ABC. When moderator Savannah Guthrie asked whether Trump's feelings on masks altered after he fell ill, he responded,"No, because I was okay with the masks.

conspiracy theory that claimed Joe Biden had SEAL Team 6 murdered after the bin Laden — which the conspiracy claims was actually unsuccessful.“You’re the president! You’re not someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever!” Guthrie replied during the town hall.

Also Read: Republicans Are Not Happy Savannah Guthrie Pushed Back on Trump During Town HallPerhaps the most notable moment of the hour-long session came when Guthrie asked Trump about a tweet he had retweeted this week which pushed a conspiracy theory about Joe Biden and Osama bin Laden. Trump defended defended himself by saying, “I’ll put it out there, people can decide for themselves.

Also Read: Savannah Guthrie Pushes Trump on QAnon, Conspiracy Theories: 'You're Not Like Someone's Crazy Uncle Who Can Just Retweet Whatever!'“Again, the reason we got here is because President Trump dropped out of the second debate,” Rachel Maddow continued. “Vice President Joe Biden then scheduled a town hall at ABC News, that is ongoing.

Zing! Conan O'Brien on Thursday had a striking (and personal) takedown of NBC, which is under heavy criticism for scheduling a town hall event with President Donald Trump during an ABC town hall with former Vice President Joe Biden. "I can’t remember the last time I was this shocked by an NBC programming decision,"O'Brien quipped Thursday.

C-SPAN's suspension of "Washington Journal" host Steve Scully after he admitted to lying about his Twitter account being hacked is a "big black eye" for the Commission on Presidential Debates, Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier said Thursday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will no doubt make news when they take part in dueling town halls this evening on NBC and ABC. But the networks broadcasting their events may be looking less at headlines the two politicians will generate and more at the money they will draw.NBC and ABC hope to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue from their 8 p.m.

NBC News faced a sharp backlash to its decision to host President Donald Trump for a town hall Thursday in direct competition with ABC’s event with Democrat Joe Biden, including a social media call to boycott the network.