Viewers fear CNN will use new microphones to ‘mute Trump’ and ‘rig’ tonight’s debate to help Biden

Viewers have taken to social media to express their fears that CNN may use new microphones to “mute” Trump and “rig” tonight’s debate to help Biden.

As Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, prepare for Thursday’s presidential debate, those planning to tune in have expressed concerns about the news channel’s equipment.

CNN revealed in a short clip titled: A look inside CNN’s presidential debate: How it will workhow the microphone mute button works on each stage and what the consequences are if it is turned on.

The explainer video, which exploded online, caused an uproar among viewers as many feared the debate could be ‘rigged’ due to the microphone feature.

On X, formerly Twitter, a user commented below the CNN clip, “Yes. With this current mic setup and the way they’re going to mute Trump, he’s going to have to really get his timing right. His best strategy is to be calm and ruthless.”

Another said: ‘This is just so they can muzzle Trump while he destroys Joe Biden.’

A third added: ‘Manipulated b*******. So they can ask questions and virtually mute Trump when he wants to respond.”

“And CNN will use this to turn off Trump’s microphone… How transparent can they be?” someone else responded.

In the clip, news anchor Victor Blackwell explains that behind the podiums where Biden and Trump will later face each other, two green lights appear next to the microphone.

‘If they are on, they indicate to the candidate that his microphone is on. When the green lights are off, they indicate to the candidate that their microphone is off,” Blackwell said.

He then gave viewers at home “an idea of ​​what it would look like if a candidate whose microphone is turned off interrupts a candidate whose microphone is turned on.”

Blackwell and CNN’s domestic correspondent Phil Mattingly demonstrate the outcome while standing on each stage.

With Blackwell’s lights remaining green and Phil off, Blackwell can still be heard loud and clear as he speaks, while Phil’s voice is muffled and difficult to hear.

Phil explained that it is the news station that has direct control over turning the studio microphones on and off, not the candidates.

This sparked outrage on social media as people rushed to Trump’s side and lambasted the news network.

Another comment read: The debate hosted by Trump haters Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Per CNN: The “high-tech” microphones have green lights that let Biden or Trump know if their microphone is on. Otherwise, the sound of their voice will not reach the viewer on TV. Trump will be muted, what a joke!”

Another added: “CNN shows the candidates’ microphones being muted during the presidential debate.

“Basically, every time Donald Trump says something he doesn’t agree with, they’ll silence him.”

Another offered a solution: “Trump should just bring his own microphone and send it to CNN’s coverage via Bluetooth.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, the highest-ranking Republican in the administration, also shared his thoughts ahead of the debate.

“I expect everyone will be watching,” he told the channel This week at the Heuvelshow.

“I also expect that CNN will manipulate it as much as possible and make it as favorable to the president as possible [Joe] Biden, but I don’t think it’s going to work,” he added.

It comes as the two political figures are set to come face-to-face tonight for their first general election debate of the 2024 presidential race.

In the rematch, which airs on CNN at 9 p.m., Trump and Biden will be in the same room together for the first time since their 2020 debates.

They will each have 90 minutes in front of an audience of tens of millions of people and will take to the biggest stage of the general election campaign yet to show why they are the candidate to be picked in November.

Trump’s allies have said Biden will be pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs so he can get through it. Joe’s campaign has warned that Donald will not be able to control himself.

The two candidates both agreed to the rules that CNN sent to their campaigns in May.

Part of that agreement included allowing microphones to be muted when the other candidate speaks, a departure from previous debates.

It is an attempt to avoid crosstalk and interruptions.

The Biden campaign requested that the microphones be turned off so that an “orderly proceeding” could take place.

But in 2020, one of the key moments of their first televised debate was when Biden said, “Will you shut up, man.”

Trump was seen as constantly interrupting and Biden was considered to have won the debate.

Additionally, there will be no studio audience, another change from previous events. The aim is to avoid party political noise in the background of what organizers hope will be a serious debate about policy and opposing politics.

No props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage, but candidates will be provided with a notebook, pen and bottle of water.