WASHINGTON – High school instructor James Miller was skeptical of Tuesday’s debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, but his wife convinced him to watch it.
Now he regrets seeing him on TV.
“It’s a fight, not a debate,” 49-year-old USA TODAY Miller told former debate coach at Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky. “They’re two old men arguing in the back of the bar. “someone who teaches persuasion, rhetoric and debate, in fact it’s not a debate. “
The widespread complaint of the noisy in Cleveland led the Presidential Debate Commission to announce that it would load “loading tools” at the last two meetings between White House contenders to prevent a repeat of the chaos.
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“Last night’s debate made it clear that additional design needed to be added to the format of the remaining discussions for a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the committee said.
Discussion planners said they were “carefully considering” the adjustments and would announce them shortly.
The 3rd debate between Trump and Biden is scheduled for October 15 in Miami.
Biden supporters need long-term moderators to turn off microphones to prevent Trump from talking above his opponent. The president’s allies were also offended by Biden’s performance. The former vice president called the president a “clown” and told him to “shut up. “”while Trump beat him.
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Trump Crusade spokesman Tim Murtaugh said any adjustment would treat the president unfairly.
“They’re only doing this because their man hit last night, ” he said in a statement. “President Trump is the dominant force and now Joe Biden is looking for referees to function. They shouldn’t move the poles and replace the ball. “regulations in the middle of the game. “
During the Cleveland debate, FOX News moderator Chris Wallace tried in vain to avoid continuing interruptions, more from Trump than biden.
Both applicants interrupted questions from Wallace or his opponent 93 times during the 90-minute debate, according to the Washington Post. Trump was guilty of 71 of them, compared to Biden’s 22.
“I have no idea who won this debate, but I know we’re all in a worse position for that,” wrote Todd Graham, director of debate at the University of Southern Illinois and three-time coach of the year in national college debates. for CNN.
“There are too many life-changing problems of Americans that have been discussed (such as a substantive exploration of the so-called topics of this debate, which have fallen or have been systematically blurred in the cacophony of the president’s talk) frustrated opponent). “
The Miami debate will take the form of a public assembly in which the citizens of the South Florida area will be asked questions.
Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to the consultation and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate an additional discussion, according to the commission.
But Wallace struggled to keep any of the candidates, especially Trump, on any kind of watch. When Wallace asked Trump to avoid interrupting, the president claimed Biden also interrupted him.
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“Frankly, he’s made more interruptions,” Wallace told Trump, asking the president at one point if he wanted to replace the seats and the moderator.
On Wednesday, Wallace told the New York Times that he didn’t need to turn off the microphones, saying that wouldn’t stop a candidate from being disturbing by sharing the same scene.
Wallace said he was “disappointed” with the way the debate had become uncontrollable “because it could have been a much more useful night than it turned out to be. “
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Wednesday that he did not believe the format adjustments the commission could make to curb interference or interruption.
“I’m not sure of a format substitution that will solve this problem,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who helped the president prepare for the debate, said on ABC News that he thought Trump seemed too “hot. “
“I think it’s the right thing to be competitive but it’s too hot. I think what’s going on is that with all this heat, the light is lost. This can potentially be repaired. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have to see,” he said.
Christie also criticized Biden’s performance, saying that the former vice president gave the impression of running out of strength in the hour-and-a-half debate. Echoing Trump’s complaint about Biden, the former governor questioned whether the 77-year-old Democratic nominee had the stamina to get the job done.
“Because if you can’t sit there for 90 minutes and still be consistent, other people will wonder if you can do it when you’re sitting behind the table in the Oval Office. “Christie said.
Some of Trump’s supporters criticized Wallace, saying the Fox News host helped rescue Biden at key moments in the debate.
“It’s hard to know how sesgade (and) corrupt Chris Wallace was last night,” Wayne Allyn Root, a radio host and conservative author, said Wednesday in a tweet. “A sophisticated but better spouse for Biden, whenever (Trump) had Biden. “with ropes and about to self-destruct, Wallace abruptly interrupted Trump or demanded that the issue be changed. Shameful. “
Others criticized Wallace’s inability to control Trump and avoid the president’s interruptions. Towards the end of the debate, he called on the Chair for not respecting the two-minute reaction rule of the debate, which his crusade agreed to follow.
“Why don’t you practice what your crusade has accepted as a fundamental rule, okay sir?” asked Wallace.
Miller, Kentucky’s top school teacher, said he wasn’t sure a moderator would have done better, but that Wallace was unable to ask vital follow-up questions during the exchange as a reporter, such as when Trump said the Proud Boys, that They are classed as a hate group, they deserve to “stay away” from civil unrest in American cities.
Save those long-term forums as a position for Americans to be more informed about the White House candidates, Miller said.
Fixing the debate will have to begin by addressing Trump’s ongoing interruptions, he said, and that at least organizers will have to give the moderator the strength to silence the commands of one candidate or TELEVISION director to turn off one candidate’s camera when the other speaks. .
“When you have a bull in a Chinese store, it’s not about redesigning the Chinese store,” Miller said. “This is how the bull got here in the first position and what can we do to make sure it doesn’t destroy next time?”