Summary and Key Points: CNN has announced the rules for the first presidential debate of 2024 between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, aiming to curb interruptions and facilitate actual debate.

-Key rules include no audience, closed mics during the other candidate's turn, and no opening statements.

-These measures aim to prevent the disruptive behavior seen in past debates and create a more level playing field. While Biden's team pushed for these rules to mitigate Trump's advantage from crowd support and interruption tactics, the format may also prevent Trump from appearing petulant and unfit for presidency through constant interruptions.

Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden in First 2024 Debate 

The rules are set for the first presidential debate of 2024 between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. CNN, which will host the debate, has announced the rules being implemented to curb interruptions and facilitate actual debate. Will CNN’s rule set offer an advantage to either of the candidates? Let’s take a look at the rules, and the possible advantages conferred.

The rules of the debate

Four years ago, Biden and Trump met for two presidential debates. The first, in September, is remembered for being something of a debacle, “an openly hostile meeting where Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden and led to Biden’s noteworthy retort of ‘Will you shut up, man?’” POLITICO recalled. The unpleasantness of the September 2020 debate left voters discouraged with their choices for president and left the networks with a blueprint for what not to do when hosting a debate between Biden and Trump. Now, CNN has drawn on past experiences to offer a set of rules, with the hopes that civil discourse will result. 

One: No audience. The Biden camp insisted that the debate would occur without an audience. The reasons are obvious – Trump loves the crowd, and the crowd often loves Trump.

“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life,” one Biden advisor told POLITICO under anonymity. “We wanted to take that away.”

The decision took root about a year ago, after Biden’s team watched Trump during a CNN town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, in which the crowd roared in support of the former president. The Biden camp, recognizing how much of an advantage Trump stood to gain from a raucous, supportive audience, insisted on having an audience-less debate in 2024. Also, Biden’s team was concerned that their candidate, who is hard of hearing, would have trouble debating amid the background noise of an enthusiastic audience. CNN complied, and while an audience-less debate doesn’t necessarily offer Biden an advantage, it prospectively takes away an advantage from Trump, hence leveling the playing field.

Two: Closed mics during the other candidate’s turn. In past debates, each candidate’s microphone was left live at all times. The result, in the Trump era, was a lot of interruption. Trump, who seemed to compulsively speak out of turn, managed to disrupt the cadence, and hamper the tempo, of even the most seasoned debaters. The Biden team didn’t want Trump to derail Biden’s talking points, which will likely be calibrated towards hitting Trump on abortion rights, his response to the Covid pandemic, and threats to democracy.

Ostensibly, the closed mics seem to be an advantage for Biden. But Trump’s inability to let an opponent finish a sentence has played as childish and petulant in the past, heightening concerns that the former reality TV star is not fit for the presidency. So while Biden will undoubtedly have an easier time making his points cleanly, and without interruption, Biden’s team may be preventing Trump from shooting himself in the foot with his gaudy and disrespectful debate style.  

Three: No opening statements. The candidates are just going to get right into it. Frankly, neither candidate is a great orator who thrives from reciting prepared, memorized monologues. Trump is a pure off-the-cuff guy, who loves to improvise and riff, with a talent for zingers and one-liners that can brand another candidate forever. Biden, meanwhile, is over 80 and sometimes appears to struggle with speaking. Both candidates are likely to appreciate the removal of the opening statements.

About the Author: Harrison Kass 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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