I think that the no notes rule, plus no interaction with staff during breaks helps Trump.
I have absolutely no problem with the muted microphone rule. Equal time. Fair is fair.
Yes, muting the mics fairly will be a plus. Trump just needs to fluster Biden, get him confused, without getting himself cut off or the moderators coming to defend Biden. Then again, if they do, like that one debate where the moderator tries fact-checking Trump, it will be egg on their faces. Everyone expects the moderators to be bias, can they keep it in check? I think Trump might goad them both.
I actually also think that the muted mic rule can be good for Trump, too. He blew the first debate four years ago with his antics and turned off many who were on the fence. Simply calmly stating the facts about the Biden years would be his best approach.
The “no notes” provision throws a monkey wrench into Biden’s debate plans.
In the FR thread, “WHCA Throws Biden Under the Bus, Claims He Has ‘Deals’ With the Press”, Biden snapped at a reporter for daring to ask a question about Hamas (b/c the subject that Biden had prepared for, with notes ready, was Ukraine and the G7).
That raised again the question of what kind of journo deals Biden has going?
<><>he says he calls on pre-selected reporters
<><>then reads back answers from pre-made notes,
<><>this looks like it was an arranged deal
<><>that Biden knows what question is coming
<><>that Biden is unable to respond spontaneously
<><>that the president of the US has pre-arranged q’s and a’s.
“While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask. Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently.” She added, “WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting.”
They appear to be throwing Biden under the bus for saying there are no “deals.” So in order to save face, they’re saying what Biden is telling us is not true. On the other hand, if we believe that there are deals, that’s also problematic........that Biden needs/wants such an accommodation.
Yes, at times he might not have the information he’s queried about, but if a president can’t answer questions on the fly, that’s a big problem.......while Biden’s statement says, “journalists decide what to ask,” it doesn’t clarify whether questions are given to Biden or his team in advance.......
CNN's two far-left "moderators" are not candidate staff, so they can interact with Biden as much as they want during commercial breaks. As we have seen in the past, they also will ask very nasty questions of President Trump while throwing softballs to Biden.