Presidential debate commission adopts mute button to limit interruptions – as it happened

Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by aussiegirlfriend
image for Presidential debate commission adopts mute button to limit interruptions – as it happened

Kelly Loeffler, the Republican US senator from Georgia who has embraced a follower of the toxic rightwing conspiracy theory QAnon in a desperate bid to hang on to her seat, squared off with her Trump-supporting rival and the leading Democratic candidate in their first debate today.

The virtual debate, staged through separate video links to ensure safety amid the pandemic, was a chance for voters to get to grips with one of the most volatile and chaotic races in the nation. Some 20 candidates are standing in a race which, as a special election, had no primary.

Loeffler, who was appointed to the seat in January following the resignation of Johnny Isakson, is having to fend off a fierce challenge from Doug Collins, an avidly Trump-supporting congressman. The pair have been scrambling over each other in a rapid dash to the right, trying to outdo the other in their radical conservative credentials.

An exchange between Collins and Loeffler featured sparring on a personal angle.

“You’ve attacked my hair, my makeup, how I talk, my clothes, where I’m from,” Loeffler said, adding: “I am the true conservative. I don’t have to have a record I have to lie about,” the Gainesville Times reported.

Collins shot back: “I’ve never mentioned anything personally – her fixtures, hair or anything else. But it’s amazing what she [says] about me.”

Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King preached for eight years, asked Collins if he would condemn QAnon.

That is the virulent conspiracy theory rapidly which claims a cabal of Democrats and billionaires is running a pedophile and human trafficking ring and which the FBI has warned is a domestic terrorism threat.

“I don’t agree with QAnon … and don’t support them,” Collins said.

Loeffler said: “I don’t know anything about QAnon.”

felixlightner on October 20th, 2020 at 04:03 UTC »

I'll bet Trump just shouts over Biden mute or no mute. Any takers?

Askmeaboutmy_Beergut on October 20th, 2020 at 03:04 UTC »

Trump will reach under the podium and pull out a bullhorn and start yelling over biden.

I seriously think he'll just yell.

Notaspy87 on October 20th, 2020 at 01:57 UTC »

Can’t wait to see it in action