The Commission on Presidential Debates said Wednesday it will add more “structure” to the remaining forums after the first debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden was marred by interruptions, insults and sparring with the moderator.
In a statement, the commission said Tuesday’s contest “made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.”
It said it “intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates,” adding that the changes will be announced soon.
Trump’s re-election campaign said the rules should remain as they are.
“They’re only doing this because their guy got pummeled last night. 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,” Tim Murtaugh, the 2020 campaign communications director, said in a statement.
The commission also commended Chris Wallace, the Fox News anchor who moderated the debate, saying it was “grateful” for the “professionalism and skill he brought to last night’s debate.”
The first 90-minute presidential debate became raucous as Trump and Biden often shouted above each other to make points, fired off a series of personal insults and constantly interrupted one another and Wallace.
At one point, Trump suggested to Wallace that it seemed to him that he was debating the Fox News host rather than Biden.