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Rand Paul Jokingly Suggests Using An ‘Opening In The Floor’ To Keep Debates In Check

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questions U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing on the State Department's 2021 budget in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 30, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joked that the next debates should include an “opening in the floor” to keep President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden from ignoring time constraints.

Speaking to Fox New host Neil Cavuto, Paul said the Tuesday night presidential debate was “exhausting.”

“It was exhausting even to watch, much less participate in. I, frankly, don’t think it was that informative,” Paul said.

Cavuto then suggested the next debate moderator have the ability to cut the mics of candidates to prevent another situation like Tuesday night, where both Biden and Trump constantly went over time and spoke over debate moderator Chris Wallace. Wallace also interrupted Trump.

“Are you pro-cut-their-mics?” Cavuto asked Paul, according to a transcript from CNS News.

“I was thinking more like an opening in the floor, that you fall through the opening in the floor,” Paul jokingly responded. “And that’s it. And I think that — yes, just no sort of warnings, no sort of like, oh, slap on the hand. Just immediately the floor opens. No, it’s hard to control two strong-willed people on a debate stage like that.”

Paul went on to give his own suggestion for how the next debate should proceed:

Why don’t we do a 30-minute interview with each candidate in separate rooms? Don’t put them in the same room, but really try to get a little more of an in-depth conversation, challenge them, push them to answer questions more completely.

But the debate format is sort of like this mini-war. But I don’t think it’s that informative. I really would rather see a long-form interview. I would do 30 minutes with each. An hour-and-a-half is, frankly, too long. Anybody that watched an hour-and-a-half that didn’t have to, I wonder what was going on.

But, also, I don’t think it was that great for the people in the middle, those who are undecided yet. I don’t think there was a lot that was garnered from last night that might convince you either way.

I mean, I think the one important issue on Biden’s responses was that, when he was asked would he pack Supreme Court, he wouldn’t answer. And I think that’s a pretty important question, because that’s a pretty dramatic change to our form of government, and I think could be very destructive. And I think, frankly, the media ought to force him to answer that question.

But, other than that, I didn’t get a whole lot out of the debate.

Paul also gave Trump a little advice on what he should do during the debates – let Biden speak more:

I do think that, when he (Biden) said, I am the Democrat Party — he was very forceful with that — that he was rebuking his left and saying, I’m not for the Green New Deal, even though he has actually said he was for the Green New Deal in the past. That rebuke to the left-wing needs to be out there and to be aired.

But the other thing is when he says, I am the Democrat Party, when he was asked, well, why don’t you call the governors and mayors where the cities are on fire in Portland and Seattle and Chicago, he said, well, it’s none of my business.

I think that point needs to be hammered home, that, if he thinks he is the Democrat Party, he is their nominee, why isn’t he willing to do anything to try to have some law and order and stop the arson, the Molotov cocktails, and the violence in our cities?

Paul added that Trump and everyone else should denounce white supremacy “unequivocally.”

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