The Commission on Presidential Debates said on Wednesday that it’s considering changes to the structure of the remaining two presidential debates.
The commission’s announcement comes after President Trump went off the rails during the first debate Tuesday, constantly interrupting and interjecting while moderator Chris Wallace struggled to keep things on track.
The first debate “made clear that the additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the commission said.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the CPD said it will be “carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly.”
The CPD added that it’s “grateful” for Wallace’s “professionalism and skill” he brought to the debate and it “intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates.”
Shortly after the CPD released its statement, Trump rehashed his ire toward Wallace and Biden in a tweet.
Try getting a new Anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate! https://t.co/B9heSVV1OJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2020
The Trump campaign also hit back at the CPD’s consideration of changes for upcoming debates in a statement issued by communications director Tim Murtaugh on Wednesday afternoon. Murtaugh accused the CPD’s discussion of instituting changes to debates going forward “because their guy got pummeled last night.”
“President Trump was the dominant force and now Joe Biden is trying to work the refs,” Murtaugh wrote. “They shouldn’t be moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game.”
Earlier Wednesday, Biden said that he hopes the CPD can “control the ability of us to answer the question without interruption” when asked whether any changes should be made to the format of upcoming debates against Trump.
“I’m not going to speculate on what happens in the second or third debate,” Biden said. “My hope is that they’re able to literally say: the question gets asked of trump. He has a microphone two minutes to answer the question, and no one else has a microphone, and then I don’t know what the actual rules are going to be, literally, but that’s what seems to me to make sense.”
Biden added that he’s “looking forward to it,” before being pressed on whether he has anything to say to persuadable voters who were turned off by politics after Tuesday night’s debate debacle.
The former VP replied that he can “understand” the sentiment and proceeded to jab Trump for being a “national embarrassment” in light of his chaotic debate performance.
“I kind of thought at one point — maybe I shouldn’t say this, but the President of the United States conducted himself the way he did — I think it was just a national embarrassment,” Biden said. “But, look, I just hope that the American people and those undecided voters try to determine what each of us has as an answer for their concerns and allows us to actually speak.”
Watch Biden’s remarks below:
Biden hopes debate commission "can control the ability of us to answer the question without interruption" at upcoming debates against Trump pic.twitter.com/zlSXckDdUn
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) September 30, 2020
