In a clear breach of decades-long tradition, former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden did not perform the ceremonial handshake at the start of their first 2020 election debate.
This icy interaction matches the pattern of the last two debates, where Trump similarly avoided shaking hands with his Democratic rival – another break from practice.
The pair communicated scarcely after 2021, fostering a popular belief that the two presidents do not get along.
The debate was aired on news network CNN prior to both men being officially nominated as representative candidates by their respective party conventions.
Aaron Kall, Director of Debate Program at the University of Michigan, downplayed the significance of the lack of handshake. Pre-debate, he explained that he didn’t anticipate much ceremony considering Trump’s previous refusal to shake hands, reports the Mirror US.
CBS News)
In 2016, both Trump and Hillary Clinton also avoided the pre-debate handshake, signalling mutual disdain.
Kall remarked: “They didn’t shake hands during their last two debates in 2020. That was during Covid and their podiums were farther apart. President Biden and Trump haven’t spoken in nearly four years. Given the disdain and animosity between the two, I don’t expect a pre-debate handshake.”
In 2016, The Miami Herald’s “Naked Politics” blog delved into the YouTube archives of past presidential debates and unearthed an unbroken tradition of handshakes dating back to the inaugural face-off between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976 – the first ever debate. This historic run of debate handshakes was snapped by none other than Donald Trump during his debate with Hilary.
In 2020, Joe Biden and Donald Trump also bypassed the handshake. However, Kall believes this could be the key to a ‘civil’ debate between two candidates notorious for their lack of civility towards each other.
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“Their podiums are closer this year and there is no live audience- just a mostly vacant studio. If they do engage in a surprising pre-debate handshake, I think that would foreshadow a more civil and issue-focused debate ahead later tonight,” Kall adds.
To gear up for the inevitable clash between the two, CNN equipped their studio’s mics with a handy feature: auto mute. The microphones will switch off when a candidate’s time is up, preventing them both from interrupting each other.
The power to mute anyone’s microphone is typically held by the moderator, but it’s a rare occurrence for it to be automatically switched off. This was a request made by Biden to prevent Trump from interrupting his debate opponent, something Trump has become infamous for.
Tonight, moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper won’t have as much work on their hands to keep each candidate in line.
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CBS News)
During the 2020 debate, the microphones of opponents were silenced during each candidate’s opening statement in every 15-minute segment, but not at other times.
For Biden, the mute feature could prove particularly useful, especially now that Trump’s gag order has been lifted, allowing him to freely criticise Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Biden needs to rack up as many points as possible.
A recent poll from the Democracy Institute/Daily Express US revealed that Donald Trump is leading Joe Biden by three points as they head into Thursday night’s debate. The poll shows Trump with 46 percent support among 500 likely voters, while Biden lags slightly behind at 43 percent, with an additional four percent still undecided.
Both candidates are expected to launch attacks over policy, but a source from Biden’s camp told CNN that the President’s team has been preparing him to handle potential insults about his family. Hunter Biden, Joe’s son, was recently convicted on felony gun charges.
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Trump, now a convicted felon himself, is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of 34 hush money crimes in New York. However, it’s unlikely Biden will comment on Trump’s legal troubles, as Trump is known for pointing fingers at the Biden family.
Former President Donald Trump portrays a bleak image of America under President Joe Biden’s leadership: an economy in freefall, countries emptying their prisons and mental institutions across our southern border, and soaring crime rates.
On the other hand, Biden claims that he took over with an inflation rate of 9 percent and petrol prices at $5 per gallon. He also brags about his administration’s record on job creation, though without providing the full context.
Whether they’ll stay on topic or let the debate descend into chaos remains to be seen.