Former CNN analyst claims network's new debate rules ‘clearly benefit’ Joe Biden
CNN's new rules for the upcoming presidential debate on June 27 are seen as advantageous for Joe Biden by a former CNN political analyst.
Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza has claimed that CNN's rules for the upcoming presidential debate on June 27 appear skewed to benefit President Joe Biden in a recently posted YouTube video.
Cillizza remarked, “He [Biden] is older, I do think he struggles more with these live performance kind-of-things than does Trump.”
Usually, presidential debates, organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, featured live audiences and did not mute candidates' microphones, but now, with the network's several new rules to prevent interruptions, CNN will only unmute the microphone of the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
Muted microphones, commercial break and more
Cillizza believes this rule is advantageous for Biden and he is “surprised” to see that.
“I don't love it from a debate perspective, but from a, 'Who does this benefit?' perspective, it clearly benefits Biden,” he stated.
“If you go back and look at the debates they had — they had two in 2020 between Biden and Trump — Trump just talks and talks and talks and talks, and that’s true in 2016, too. Like, he just over and over and over and over again — just talks.”
“I do think it helps Biden because I think Trump just tries to get you off your pace, off your rhythm, off your game just by talking and talking and talking,” the former CNN political analyst added.
Another novel aspect, presidential debates did not feature commercials, but CNN plans to utilize the expected high viewership to sell advertisements, incorporating two commercial breaks during the 90-minute event.
‘Three rules’ to benefit Biden
During these breaks, neither Trump nor Biden will be allowed to consult with their campaign staff and “This probably benefits Biden a little bit just because he gets a little time to regroup,” Cillizza commented.
“He is older — I know it's only three and a half years older — but I do think he struggles more with these live performance kind-of-things than does Trump. I think that's a good thing for Biden. I think he benefits from a little breather within. So that's two rules and two good things for Biden.”
He also suggested that Trump supporters are “more likely” than Biden supporters to ignore debate rules.
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“I do think this probably benefits Biden,” Cillizza said.
“Trump supporters are loud. They are more likely to not follow the debate rules. Like, at every debate they’re like, 'please don’t clap, please don’t cheer, please don’t express any sentiment toward either candidate until the end of the debate.' And people just don’t follow the rules.”
“I think the Trump people would be less likely to follow the rules just given what I know about them,” and added, “So you'd have a lot of cheering, a lot of booing, which I think might sort of impact how people perceive the debate. OK, so that's three rules and three good things for Biden.”
