Presidential debate organizer mulling ‘additional structure’ for future Trump-Biden events after Tuesday fiasco

Following the heated duel between US President Donald Trump and his Democrat challenger Joe Biden, the NGO that organizes the presidential debates said it was considering “additional structure” for the two remaining events.

“Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement on Wednesday. “The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly.”

While the CPD did not specify what it had in mind, it made sure to thank Fox News’s Chris Wallace for his “professionalism and skill” in moderating the debate, and mentioned implementing “additional tools to maintain order.”

Tuesday night’s confrontation in Cleveland, Ohio, saw Trump repeatedly interrupt Biden as the Democrat recited talking points, challenging his premises as well as his factual claims. Biden responded by calling everything Trump said a lie and demanding the president “shut up.”

Wallace’s performance was widely panned in the aftermath, not just by cable news talking heads but also by the general public on social media, which accused the Fox News host of openly siding with Biden as he struggled to silence Trump. 

There was even an initiative to get podcast host Joe Rogan to moderate one of the debates, or to hold an additional one, in addition to the two already scheduled by the CPD and assigned to C-Span and NBC, respectively.

Though the CPD offered no specifics on its intention going forward, its praise for Wallace and talk of “maintaining order” add up to the possibility the NGO could allow moderators of the remaining two debates to shut off Trump’s microphone whenever they choose.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh criticized the commission for changing the rules agreed to by all parties for this year's three presidential debates and suggested that the move is motivated by concern over Biden’s performance.

“They’re only doing this because their guy got pummeled last night," Murtaugh told Fox News. "President Trump was the dominant force, and now Joe Biden is trying to work the refs.They shouldn’t be moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game.”

Trump himself took to Twitter to complain about the move. "Try getting a new anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate," he quipped.

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