The first official debate of the 2020 presidential election kicked off on Tuesday night, but many viewers had a hard time following along. The event pitted President Joe Biden and former Vice President Joe Biden against each other in a series of questions by moderator Chris Wallace, but they had trouble taking turns answering. Many viewers questioned why the event organizers could not simply cut their microphones between questions.
The debate came with a simple, standard set of rules — Wallace asked a question and directed one person to answer first. They had two minutes to respond, and their opponent then had an equal amount of time to respond. It rarely worked out this way, with Trump talking over Biden and speaking out of turn more often than not. Biden did so a handful of times as well, remarking that Trump was "unprofessional." The effect was often a babble that viewers could not possibly follow.
The debate drew a lot of engagement on social media, where commenters were tearing their hair out over this senseless noise. Many questioned why the microphones couldn't be set to be turned off when it wasn't that person's turn to speak. They had various suggestions — for example, some said that Wallace should have control of the microphones, while others said they should be automated. Either way, Americans all along the political spectrum agreed that the noise was anything but productive.
Talking out of turn has always been a problem with televised political debates, and many viewers blamed the networks themselves, speculating that the noise created more drama and therefore drove up ratings. However, amid the coronavirus pandemic, many viewers have newfound experience running video chat meetings, where microphone management is critical. They had more insight than ever on how these debates could be made to run more smoothly.
The debate continues until about 10:30 p.m. ET on most major news networks. Here is a look at how social media responded to the microphone clamor in the first half-hour.