• Kamala Harris’ campaign is demanding that microphones stay unmuted at the next debate.
  • It’s a break from Joe Biden, who insisted on microphone muting at the June 27 debate.
  • It indicates the vice president thinks outbursts from Trump would end up benefiting her.
  • g0nz0li0@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Muted mics make him look like he’s being civil and letting Harris talk.

    Hot mic presents two interesting possibilities:

    1. He tries on his “low IQ” and “she suddenly decided to be black” attack lines and Harris calls him out so he looks like a fucking asshole to the average voter.

    2. He DOESNT try on his “low IQ” and “she suddenly decided to be black” attack lines and Harris calls back to her “say it to my face” line and paints him as a weak coward for the rest of the campaign.

  • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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    23 days ago

    What happens if he just doesn’t stop talking when his turn is over? I thought that was a lesson learned from 2016 or something

    • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      Trump has cognitively declined since 2016 and is increasingly incoherent and nasty. I think the Dems are gambling that many voters aren’t watching his stump appearances so this is a good way to expose him to voters.

      I think its too big a gamble and mute him. I think he will expose himself enough on his own turns to speak.

      • makuus@pawb.social
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        23 days ago

        I just hope none of this is being planned with the idea that it’ll change the opinion of his most ardent supporters, because he’s said a lot of incoherent and nasty things, and it doesn’t appear to have hurt his chances. Hell, those most negatively impacted by his policies are lining up to vote for him again, to “save” the nation. What are words in the face of that?

        • MagicShel@programming.dev
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          23 days ago

          In the margins are people who will peel away and at least stay home. The people who haven’t seen him speak but think they like him based on the curated perspective from Fox News, etc. there are people who will listen to him unfiltered for the first time in a few years and it will be the last straw.

          • Etterra@lemmy.world
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            23 days ago

            It’s almost certainly directed at the fence-sitters and undecided. Those kinds of people are so confusing, especially in the present day of info overload. I mean how have you not figured these two out yet? Are you living in a bunker, or are you just that wishy-washy? Like WTF.

            It’s more important to energize the base - which I believe is why they did the DNC like they did. The more people vote overall, the better the Dems tend to do. And dragging everyone out of Biden’s post-debate despair is critical for them.

    • dyathinkhesaurus@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      Came here to say this. How will they shut him up? The people who came to hear him talk will want to hear his word salad gospel, no matter how long he yammers for. She won’t be able to get a word in.

      And based on what happened with Hillary Clinton, there should also perhaps be a demand that he stay put at his lectern and not be allowed to walk around the stage/behind her…

    • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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      23 days ago

      Harris isn’t a smug elitist nor a doddering old fool. She’ll cut him off and dress him down.

    • foggy@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      I think how poorly his recent ramblings have gone… That’s exactly what they’re hoping for.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      The more he talks, the less time they will have to ask questions and the less likely foreign policy will come up in an environment where “shut up” isn’t met with cheers.

  • Uncle_Abbie@lemmy.today
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    23 days ago

    Comedian Ron White used to tell a story about being arrested for public intoxication, saying “I had the right to remain silent, I just didn’t have the ability.”

    This seems like the same thing playing out in real life. All Donald has to do is not talk when it isn’t his turn, and his team is afraid that’s beyond his ability.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    It doesn’t matter what he says, we’ve heard it all before. He’s a one-trick pony.

    The problem is that he’s going to gish gallop and lead the conversation by trying to get Harris to be the one trying to disprove all his bullshit. It’s a major MO in republican discussion to spew bullshit in bad faith that wastes the time of the opponent who is attempting to have an actual conversation and tries to reasonably refute the bullshit. The bullshit is reductionist, sensationalist, and full of feels, so it gets attention vs. the actual facts which tend to be the exact opposite. Trump will absolutely talk all over her, interrupt, and just be an asshole.

    So trump’s mic should absolutely be shut off. He wastes time and opportunity for Harris to state her platform.

    Plus, I think being unable to be heard really pisses him off. So I’m all for that, too.

    • Red_October@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      The problem is that muting his mic when it’s not his turn to talk doesn’t keep him from spewing rampant bullshit when it IS his time to talk.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        Of course!

        But it keeps him from spewing rampant bullshit over his opponent.

        Lesser of two evils? He’s gonna be a tool no matter what, just minimize his opportunity to do so.

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          She can interrupt him as well when he’s lying. Biden just had to listen.

          It benefits the smarter and more coherent person when mics are unmuted, if played correctly.

        • Red_October@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          The question becomes whether or not that interrupting bullshit stream actually harms him more than it helps.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            23 days ago

            Ok. I already know I dislike trump and will not be voting for him. It think most people at this point, if they aren’t absolute troglodytes living under a rock, already know trump’s behavior. If it hasn’t already cemented his idiocy in their minds, I don’t think one more minute on TV will change that.

            One of the only pieces of political TV I watch is the debate because I’d like to hear what their points are. I rarely make it all the way through a debate because I’m usually disgusted by both participants’ behavior and performance.

            I absolutely despise the childish talking-over each other, over-running of alotted time, and failure to answer questions.

            Forcing the silence of participants alleviates the talking over, overrunning, and at least allows the participants time to form an answer - if they don’t waste time bickering.

    • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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      23 days ago

      It clearly isn’t her plan to refute his lies and lend credence to the ridiculous things he says. It’s probably to say “what? That doesn’t even make sense … Lol he’s still talking… Haha he just keeps ranting and those aren’t even words.” Or something. I obviously don’t know her exact plan but she understands that standing there trying to fact check him won’t work.

  • Binzy_Boi@piefed.social
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    23 days ago

    Honestly fantastic choice. The more he talks over people and interrupts, the more unhinged and insensible he appears to the average voter. Political commentator I watch regularly has been saying this for months to leave his mic on at the debate rather than mute him.

    • 2000mph@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      I didn’t know about the muted mics at the last debate so when I saw all the highlights I was surprised how calm and respectful Trump was to Biden. I couldn’t understand it, I thought maybe he was being kind and had some sympathy to Biden due to his ill state at the time.

      But then I remembered who the F he is and now I know his mic was muted it all makes sense. I’m surprised he didn’t just try shouting anyway over the muted mic.

      But just watching those highlights in isolation without that knowledge it almost… kinda almost made him seem human.

      So definitely, unmute the mics so we see the real Trump and let him implode.

      • xenoclast@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        It actually worked for Biden too. I guess he forgot?

        “Will you shut up man!?” Is the only thing I remember from that debate

    • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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      23 days ago

      That’s what everyone was saying prior to the 2016 debates, but despite shouting over Hillary constantly those were at best a tie but more likely a Trump win on balance.

      I’m not saying it can’t work, but Harris needs to be able to control the room and put Trump in his place by force of personality alone. She needs to bite back and shut him down successfully, and that’s not all that easy to do.

      Taking the high road and “letting him make a fool out of himself” is not gonna work out the way they want.

      • treefrog@lemm.ee
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        23 days ago

        Hillary couldn’t shut Trump down without appearing elitist and smug (because she’s both).

        Harris isn’t Hillary.

      • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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        23 days ago

        She doesn’t need to shut him down she needs to laugh at him. My personal opinion is that’s exactly what she’s planning to do.

    • PhAzE@lemmy.ca
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      23 days ago

      I dunno, it’s going to become just two people talking over each other, and completely useless for viewers. But if she can get under his skin, that’d be awesome.

  • gdog05@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Her campaign team was there to know what Trump was saying when the mic was off during the last debate with Biden. I think they likely have some great insider information on top of the basic strategy. I think they know from experience, not just theory, that he just isn’t in control of himself enough to go that long without embarrassing/racist/misogynistic/whatever outbursts.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      23 days ago

      I really hope this is true because when I first heard of this “dilemma” I was kinda mad. My thought was we just argued FOR this and now we want out? Wtf do we have to gain from letting Mr.Shitforspeech run his mouth indefinitely?

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    23 days ago

    I don’t know. I remember the last time I watched a debate that included Trump and his mic was unmuted. It was completely impossible to follow anything that way said from either candidate. Trump loves chaos, and an unmuted mic enabled him to create chaos.

  • cultsuperstar@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    The debates are kinda BS. The country is clearly divided on who they’re voting for and they’re not changing their minds.

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      Clearly not, since the most recent one is why we have Harris instead of Biden as the candidate.

    • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
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      23 days ago

      But the goal isn’t just to convince people that you’re better than the other candidate — it’s to convince sympathetic people to get out and vote for you, and if not that, then at least not vote for the other.

      I think people are largely decided on who they are not voting for, but who they are voting for is a bit different.

      • xenoclast@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        I think this is key. It’s an opportunity to grab people’s attention and motivate the to vote.

    • Wogi@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      The election is a circus, the candidates are Carneys. They have great games and fabulous prizes, they just need your vote.