RUSH: Well, well, well, look at this. “Commission to Make Changes in Wake of First Debate — The Commission on Presidential Debates says it’s adding new tools to maintain order in the upcoming debates after a chaotic first debate between President Trump and [Plugs] Biden. Trump’s frequent…” This is an AP story, by the way.
“Trump’s frequent interruptions of the Democrat nominee defined Tuesday night’s debate with Biden frequently unable to complete a sentence.” (chuckling) Ho-ho-ho. Oh, man. Really, AP? “Poor Plugs! I couldn’t even finish a sentence!” Oh, my God. Let me tell you something. He disavowed the Green New Deal. He said, “No, I don’t support the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal is not the plan I have for the environment.”
But then, after saying he is the Democrat Party, he was asked, “Well, why haven’t you called these mayors in Portland and Seattle and told them to stop this rioting and looting?” Plugs: “I haven’t been elected to anything yet, so I can’t tell these guys what to do.” Really? And he’s not able to finish a sentence, AP? How come I remember all this?
(sniveling) “That mean Mr. Trump! He’s so mean, not even to let poor Biden finish a sentence! It was so bad that the commission on debates has to “add tools now to maintain order?” AP: “Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News pleaded with Trump several times to allow Biden to speak uninterrupted, to no avail. The commission says it intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates.”
Well, I don’t know what… You say Plugs wasn’t able to finish. He said, “I’m totally opposed to defunding police.” He disavowed everything that that he promised the Bernie Sanders coalition in order to get the nomination. They do want the Green New Deal, and here’s Biden saying, “No, I don’t support it. It’s not the plan I have for the environment. The party is me!
“I am the Democrat Party but I haven’t been elected to anything yet so I can’t tell other Democrats what to do.” What else did he say? “I’m totally opposed to defunding the police”? Well, that’s only the number one demand of Black Lives Matter is defunding the police, and here’s Biden saying he’s totally opposed to it? That’s not what he said prior to last night.
Biden last night was at odds with every person he made a deal with to get the nomination, including Crazy Bernie. He also said (paraphrased), “The fact of the matter is, I beat Bernie Sanders. To hell with Bernie Sanders! To hell with doing what Bernie Sanders wants. The fact that I beat Bernie Sanders.” Uh, Joe, that’s not exactly what happened. At the end of the day, you didn’t beat Bernie Sanders.
They all agreed to let you be the nominee if you would implement Bernie’s agenda, and now you are a trying to renege on it? So the Commission on Presidential Debates says they need to add new tools to maintain order. Does that mean, Mr. Snerdley, that Chris Wallace is an insufficient tool? I mean, if they need to add new tools to maintain order, wow. (interruption)
They’re not gonna shut off anybody’s mic. If they try that, you’re gonna find out how unnecessary microphones are where Donald Trump’s concerned. If they shut off his microphone, you’re gonna find out how little microphones are needed. By the way, grab sound bite number 25. I’m trying to get to this and I’m going to do it. I’m trying to get it.
I’ve got a sound bite here on the white supremacy, the attempt that was made last night humiliate Trump on supposedly not denouncing white supremacists and so forth. But CNN today went out and they found… Do you remember Carole Simpson? (interruption) She was a journalist, infobabe with ABC — and, oh, we love Carole Simpson on this program.
We had a great relationship with Carole Simpson. (impression) “Carole Simpson, ABC News, Washington,” to go along with (impression) “Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington.” Anyway, Carole Simpson, she moderated a debate. She moderated a debate that Ross Perot was in. So CNN went and found her and they got her, and they said, “If there is another debate, there will be people watching it.
Trump did not engage in any personal attacks on Biden, folks. Don’t doubt me on this. He did not get personal. Biden did. Yeah, you remember the last time they tried to shut off a microphone? (interruption) Yes, you do. It was the debate between Ronaldus Magnus, and, “I paid for this microphone.” They were mad at Reagan for demanding or taking too much time.
It was, I guess, a debate against Carter? I thought it was a… Against John Anderson? But regardless, Ronaldus Magnus said, “Mr. Moderator, I paid for this microphone” when they tried to cut it off. So, anyway, here’s Carole Simpson. She’s asked by CNN, “Is there anything we can do? Is there any rein in this out-of-control, bad Mr. Orange Man? Like turn his microphone off?”
SIMPSON: This mic control, I don’t think that’s going to work very well. I had similar problems that Chris had last night because I had three candidates — and Ross Perot, the independent candidate, would not stop talking. And I’m getting instructions in my ear. “Do not let him dominate the debate!” So I’m going, “Mr. Perot? Mr. Perot? Please, Mr. Perot. We have to move on,” and of course, the public thought I was being rude to him. The moderator is always criticized, and a lot of my friends who have texted me have criticized Chris. I think he did the best he could (chuckling), shy of climbing the stairs and grabbing them by the neckties.
RUSH: This is my problem. It’s not you people that we have tuned in to watch. People are not tuning in to watch because there are questions that we are waiting to be asked, and we demand that those questions be asked, and we are gonna be really ticked off if you don’t answer. It’s not the way the people watch these debates watch them. You know, people have to know their limitations. And this is one of the biggest problems I’ve got with the entire business of public fame, acclamation, any job that creates fame for people that do it.
It’s the easiest thing to have your ego lose total control over. And I have studiously over the course of my career, I have made it a point to not lose control and to not think that I’m bigger than I am, no matter what circumstance that I am in. You know, I’ve been a master of ceremonies at events before, and that’s a certain talent. And it’s not like moderating a debate.
But when you’re an emcee, you do have to keep things going. And there is a moment where an emcee makes some remarks that can either be funny or serious or what have you. But you’re still, you’re not the event. You’re not the reason the event is taking place. And if you start acting like you are, then it just isn’t healthy and it isn’t good.
And I just find so many people in the public eye who have lost perspective, they have lost the ability to see themselves as they are seen by others. The empathy. In fact, the empathy factor is crucial for success in jobs like this. And you have to realize that if you’re not running for office, if you’re not one of the people running for president, then you’re not the reason people are watching. What is so hard to understand about that? But it is.
Now, this next debate is October the 15th. It’s two weeks. Two weeks and a day. It is down in Miami. And it has an entirely different format. The next debate is a town hall format where members of the audience get to ask questions of the candidates. And we’ve been there, done that. This is where the ponytail guy stood up and asked Clinton, Bush, and Perot, “What are you gonna do to take care of us? We are your children. What are you gonna do?” Remember that? Ponytail guy stood up at a debate somewhere, forget where it was, Washington, Virginia somewhere.
But that’s gonna be the next format. That’s a little tougher, because that’s audience members asking, and that’s going to involve the candidates speaking directly to members of the public. And so if Biden is answering a question from, let’s say the ponytail guy II shows up, will Trump be more or less inclined to interrupt Plugs while he’s answering a question from some hapless member of the public? That’s gonna lead to all kinds of other allegations.
A lot of people are gonna believe that members of the public have been prescreened and they’ve been given the questions that they want asked or that their questions are gonna be preapproved, or what have you. A lot of people are gonna question the legitimacy of that format as well, it’s just the nature of the beast.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: You know, Trump could say, “If you people are so concerned about maintaining order at the next debate, how about I send in the National Guard?” I know. I know.
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