CBS News unveiled the rules for Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, indicating that the candidates’ mics will not be muted during the event.
“CBS News reserves the right to turn off candidate microphones,” the rules state.
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That’s different from the Donald Trump-Kamala Harris debate and the Donald Trump-Joe Biden debate, in which candidates mics were shut off when it wasn’t their turn to speak.
Harris’ campaign demanded that mics be kept on for the ABC News presidential debate earlier this month, but eventually relented. The thinking apparently was that Trump would be hurt if he tried to repeatedly interrupt Harris when it was her turn to answer.
Other rules for the VP debate are similar to those of the presidential events: Two minutes to answer each question, two minutes to respond, and one minute for further rebuttals.
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There will be 90 minutes of debate time, with two four-minute breaks. Campaign staff will not be allowed to interact with candidates during the breaks.
“No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidate,” the rules state.
Candidates each will have two minutes for a closing statement. Vance won a virtual coin toss and decided to go second, meaning he will have the last word.
Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will moderate the debate from CBS studios in New York, with no audience.
Harris accepted CNN’s proposal for a debate on Oct. 23, but Trump said that would be “too late,” as early voting will have started in a number of states. He did participate in a second presidential debate in last cycle that was on Oct. 22, 2020.