Jessica Guerrucci – Editor-in-Chief
Between comments like “Will you shut up, man?” and name calling, the true star of the presidential debate between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump was the interruptions, which begs the question of whether microphones should be cut.
The debate was called “a hot mess” or a “train wreck” and some argued it was not even a debate. How can anyone decide on who they want to vote for when the two candidates won’t stop talking over one another?
While microphones likely won’t be cut due to concerns of bias by the moderator or privileging one candidate over another, the idea was still thrown around.
While Chris Wallace let the debate spin out of control, Trump was able to interrupt Biden 71 times, according to Washington Post – prompting Biden’s request for the president to shut up.
Everything from name calling Biden calling Trump “the worst president ever,” Trump making questionable comments about race and refusing to condemn white supremacy directly, I found myself laughing at the T.V rather than actually learning about the candidates.
Obviously, the purpose of a debate it to help better understand the candidates’ positions and ultimately decide who you want to vote for, but many of us, including myself, left feeling stressed and had no clarity on anyone’s stance.
Whether it’s muting microphones or not, the next debate will need more structure. Some pitched that they just mute them during the two minutes they’re given specifically to talk. Some want to give the moderator that power.
Also, Trump suggested that he doesn’t want any rules to change and is not in favor of muting the microphones.
“Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules for the second and third Debates when I easily won last time?” Trump tweeted.
However, Biden said change is needed, according to an article on CNBC.
“I just hope there’s a way in which the debate commission can control the ability of us to answer the question without interruption,” Biden said.
Still, Wallace raised concerns over the interruptions being picked up on the other candidate’s microphone, making that method almost ineffective.
While the moderator acknowledged that he did not control the debate as well as he should have, I cannot imagine being in his shoes when you have two candidates who don’t cooperate all the time.
Some said Wallace should have stood up and changed his body language or been more tough, but we’ll see how the next moderator handles it before we call him out for not being able to keep it on track.
As voters and students are concerned, these debates are important because we’re part of the generation who can have an impact on the election.
I wanted a chance to learn more about my candidate and his stances so that going into the election I was making an educated vote and instead I left feeling like I got nothing out of it and it was a waste of time.
