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Last presidential debate: Trump and Biden's microphones will be partially cut off

In order to avoid untimely interruptions to the first debate, Donald Trump and Joe Biden's microphones will be muted for the first two minutes of each answer, during Thursday's debate.

A small precaution to limit the untimely interruptions of the first debate. Thursday, during the second and final debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the candidates' microphones will be cut during the first answer of each question, so that they have two uninterrupted minutes to present their program. After these two minutes, they will be able to discuss and challenge each other on the six chosen subjects, to which 15 minutes will be devoted. Donald Trump had distinguished himself during the first debate by his inability to let the moderator Chris Wallace and his opponent speak and to interrupt him constantly, which had severely annoyed the former vice-president. He hadn't hesitated to say, "Are you going to shut up, man?" after yet another outing from Donald Trump. According to a count made by Axios, the billionaire had interrupted Joe Biden 71 times in an hour and a half - against 22 interruptions for the Democrat.

A change that does not please the outgoing president at all: “I will participate. I just think it's very unfair, ”Donald Trump said on Monday. Even before the announcement of this change, Donald Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, had denounced “editorial control of the debate” at the level of the “Biden debate commission”, accusing the non-partisan organization of defend the Democratic candidate. "The commission's pro-Biden pranks turned the debates into a fiasco and it is no wonder that the public has lost confidence in its objectivity," he added, lamenting that foreign policy is not discussed in this third debate as was originally planned. But in the absence of a second debate, the topics were changed. The accusations of the Trump campaign also turn to Kristen Welker, the moderator of this debate, accusing the NBC News reporter of impartiality because her parents have donated to the Democratic Party.

No second debate because of Trump contamination

Traditionally, the two presidential candidates oppose each other in three debates. But Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus ten days before the second debate, scheduled for October 15. After having hospitalized and benefited from an experimental treatment, the American president said he was ready to debate in front of his adversary but this contamination had forced the committee of debates to propose a format of virtual debate, refused by the tenant of the House - White. Instead, each answered questions from journalists and citizens on competing channels for a remote duel - on ABC for Joe Biden, on NBC for Donald Trump.

The latter debate could allow undecided voters to determine their vote, when nearly 28 million Americans have already voted - which represents 20% of the total turnout in the 2016 election, Politico said.

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