Biden endorses muting mics at debate, calls for ‘more limitations’

The commission made the decision on Monday in response to the events of the first faceoff between President Donald Trump and Biden, where commentators and viewers noted that the candidates were constantly interrupting each other.

“Both campaigns this week again reaffirmed their agreement to the two-minute, uninterrupted rule. The Commission is announcing today that in order to enforce this agreed upon rule, the only candidate whose microphone will be open during these two-minute periods is the candidate who has the floor under the rules,” they announced Monday.

“For the balance of each segment, which by design is intended to be dedicated to open discussion, both candidates’ microphones will be open,” they continued.

The decision was welcomed by Biden, who said that "the mic rule, I think, is a good idea," adding "I think there should be more limitations on us not interrupting one another." He commented that the president interrupted him in the first debate "148 times." The comments were made on the Milwaukee-based affiliate of ABC, WISN.

Despite lambasting the commission as "biased" and expressing disapproval over their decision, President Trump has nevertheless agreed to attend the second and final presidential debate.

It is "their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate," Trump claimed.

While the Thursday debate was supposed to be the finale of three presidential debates, the second debate was cancelled following President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and his subsequent refusal to participate in a virtual debate. The last time there were less than three presidential debates during an election was 1996.

The debate is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, October 22nd at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.