CLEVELAND — There will be a lot of firsts happening Thursday night during the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
One rule from CNN, which is hosting the debate, is that microphones will be muted for the candidates when it’s not their turn to speak.
THE QUESTION
This raises the question: "Is this the first time mics have been muted during a presidential debate?"
SOURCES
Our source on this is:
- The Commission on Presidential Debates, along with reporting on their rules from 2020.
EXPLANATION
The Commission on Presidential Debates was established in 1987, and until tonight, it's run every presidential debate since then.
In October of 2020, after the first debate that year in Cleveland between Trump and Biden included lots of interruptions, the commission decided to mute each candidate's microphone during the other's opening statement at the start of each 15-minute segment of the final debate.
This time, under CNN's rules, the candidates' microphones will be muted every time they don't have the floor.
ANSWER
So we can VERIFY that no, this isn't the first time mics have been muted during a presidential debate. It is the first time it will be done throughout the entire debate, though.
ADDITIONAL VERIFY FAST FACTS
Now, here are a few more VERIFY Fast Facts about the firsts that you'll see tonight:
- This is the first time since the Commission on Presidential Debates was established that it's not sponsoring a presidential debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates.
- CNN is running this debate, and along with that, it’s the first time a presidential debate will include commercial breaks. There will be two of them.
- This is the earliest presidential debate in U.S. history since they started being televised in the 1960s. Usually they're in September and October, and this one is so early that neither of the candidates have technically even been officially nominated by their respective parties yet.
- Biden, at 81, and Trump, at 78, are both the oldest major party presidential candidates to debate in American history.
- It's the first time a former president will debate a current president.
- Tonight will mark the first time one of the presidential candidates debating is a convicted felon.
- It's also the first time a major presidential debate will have no studio audience. Even during the pandemic debates, there were small groups in the room.
There might be more firsts tonight, but we'll have to wait and watch to see what those might be.