Debate commission to mute mics during next presidential debate

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that microphones for President Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Joe Biden will be muted outside of their designated speaking times for portions of the third and final presidential debate on October 22.

The new rule, which was announced on Monday, won't be in play throughout the entirety of the 90-minute debate. Instead, it specifically applies to the two-minute opening statements which will mark the beginning of each new segment in the debate. There will be six different segments. Each will be fifteen-minutes long and feature a separate subject or issue.

It's these two-minute openers that will provide candidates with an initial opportunity to state their platforms before opening the conversation up to an ensuing discussion. According to USA Today, both microphones will be open during the open discussion portion, allowing for discourse, and interruptions, between the candidates.

"During the times dedicated for open discussion, it is the hope of the Commission that the candidates will be respectful of each other's time, which will advance civil discourse for the benefit of the viewing public," the commission said in a statement.

Interruptions made during the discussion portion of the debate won't be muted, but the time taken will be returned to the interrupted candidate, ensuring a full use of the allotted time. The task of returning time to candidates will be left up to Kristin Welker, NBC correspondent to the White House and the moderator for the final Presidential debate.

The introduction of a muting function has never been seen before in a televised Presidential debate and is a departure from 60 years of precedent—since the first televised presidential debate, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon first squared off in 1960.

Both campaigns have agreed to the Commission's decision.

The Trump Campaign initially objected to the  announcement, but said that the President would still participate in the debate. Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, says he believes the changes were made to give Biden an advantage.

"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," Stephen said.

The Biden campaign has yet to release a statement addressing the changes.