The microphones were muted. This also applied to the moderators.
Despite all the CNN logos filling viewers’ screens and the non-stop hype the network fueled Thursday’s prime-time debate between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash performed during their Moderation mostly takes a back seat.
There has been virtually no real-time fact-checking of Mr. Trump’s numerous baseless claims. In tense moments, the moderators left it up to the candidates to respond directly to each other’s demands. And fears that Mr. Trump would launch a spectacular fight with his CNN interlocutors proved unfounded.
Mr Tapper’s name was mentioned only twice over the course of 90 minutes. Ms. Bash’s name was not mentioned once.
CNN had made it clear in advance that its anchors would act as facilitators and not as participants. Its chairman, Mark Thompson, called Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump “the stars of the show.” In this regard, the network was successful.
Whether viewers agreed with that approach could depend on their partisan views, and some Biden supporters were quick to complain that the hosts left too many falsehoods unchallenged.
But the unusual format of this debate – the first in decades to be controlled entirely by a single television network – was fully negotiated and agreed upon by both campaigns.
While Mr. Trump has a track record of steamrolling debates and taunting moderators, he showed newfound discipline on Thursday, rarely interrupting his opponent or any of the CNN anchors. The result was an evening markedly free of any crosstalk or chaotic moments that might have forced the presenters to interject.
It was a technical aspect of the show that seemed to have a greater impact than any questions or follow-up questions the hosts asked.
The decision to mute the candidates’ microphones when it was not their turn to speak was insisted upon by senior Biden aides who had complained about Mr. Trump’s refusal during the first unruly debate between the two in 2020 Basic rules to be adhered to.
But on Thursday, the mute feature appeared to be a better fit for Mr. Trump’s television skills. His bombast, often devoid of facts and context, was a stark contrast to Mr. Biden’s often rambling and uncertain answers. Mr. Trump was better at packing valid tidbits into the allotted time.
And while the moderators declined to pester Mr. Trump about some of his more outlandish falsehoods, Mr. Biden often passed up those opportunities, too. When Mr. Trump baselessly claimed that Mr. Biden had encouraged Vladimir V. Putin’s military attacks, it fell to the sitting president to reject that claim. He simply called it “malarkey.”
There were follow-ups, particularly when Ms. Bash pressed Mr. Trump three times to declare whether he would accept the results of the November election. Mr. Trump refused to answer the question directly three times.
And at one point, Mr. Tapper urged Mr. Trump to make even a half-hearted attempt to answer the question the moderator had just asked.
“So, President Trump, you have 67 seconds left,” Mr. Tapper said dryly, after Mr. Trump made an aside about China and used the phrase “Manchurian candidate” to describe Mr. Biden. “The question was, ‘What are you going to do to help Americans who are currently experiencing addiction and struggling to get the treatment they need?'”
There was a moment earlier in the night when Mr. Trump seemed tempted to break the rules. Clearly upset, he tried to respond to Biden’s response on abortion, but his microphone was muted and viewers at home couldn’t hear him. The camera turned to Mr. Tapper, who continued with his next question.
When Mr. Trump reemerged, he had done something that many of his regular viewers might not have been accustomed to: He fell silent.
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2024-06-28 05:00:13
www.nytimes.com
