Nashville presidential debate to take on 'additional structure' after chaotic Trump, Biden exchange
The final presidential debate — scheduled to take place in Nashville Oct. 22 — will likely look different than Tuesday night's chaotic exchange, according to organizers.
After President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden took part in their first debate in Cleveland, an event that proved to be chaotic and difficult for the moderator to control, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Wednesday that they'll take a different approach during future debates.
"Last night's debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues," the commission announced in a statement. "The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly."
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The commission thanked Fox News host Chris Wallace, who moderated the debate. The event was intended to be divided into six 15-minute segments focused on different topics. Each candidate was supposed to have two minutes to respond to the question before an open-ended discussion would take place.
But the structure didn't hold.
The response segments devolved into bickering and interruptions, overwhelmingly perpetuated by Trump.
Wallace struggled to keep order and repeatedly chastised Trump for interrupting Biden.
The jabs included debate over each other's intelligence, Trump attacking Biden's family and Biden referring to the president as a "clown."
"Will you shut up, man?" Biden asked Trump at one point.
The commission previously announced that the Nashville debate was to follow the same format as the first debate in Cleveland.
It's unclear what changes will be implemented for that debate, which is being held at Belmont University and will be moderated by Weekend TODAY co-anchor Kristen Welker. She is also a White House correspondent for NBC News.
The two nominees' second debate, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Florida, was set to be held in the style of a town hall meeting where voters ask the questions.
A debate between the vice presidential candidates, Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, will take place Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City. USA Today's Susan Page will moderate.
The Oct. 22 debate isn't the first time Nashville has played host to a presidential debate. In 2008, Belmont hosted its first, bringing former President Barack Obama and the late U.S. Sen. John McCain to the university.
Joey Garrison of USA TODAY contributed.
Reach Natalie Allison at firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.
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