Final presidential debate: Here’s what will be different

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Trump on change to debate rules: 'The whole thing is crazy'

President Trump reacts on 'Fox &Friends' to The Commission on Presidential Debates announcing changes to the rules ahead of the final presidential debate.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), fed up by President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden talking over each other, instituted a new set of protocols for this week’s debate. 

Here’s what the final presidential debate will look like:

It will take place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. beginning at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday. 

The debate will touch on fighting COVID-19, American families, national security, leadership, climate change, and race in America. Each segment will be 15 minutes long, totaling 90 minutes.  

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Trump’s team has criticized the topics, saying they were told this debate would focus on foreign policy. 

The audience at the debate will be much smaller than in years past, and while audience members were supposed to wear masks at the last debate, new rules say that any audience member without a mask on will be thrown out. 

The moderator, NBC News’ White House correspondent Kristen Welker, will ask a question at the beginning of each of the six segments. While Trump is giving his two-minute response, Biden’s microphone will be muted to minimize interruptions. While Biden is answering, Trump’s microphone will be muted.

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For the rest of the segment, neither mic will be muted and the candidates will be able to engage in the back-and-forth characteristic of presidential debates.