2020 presidential debate memes: Who muted the mute button?
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off for the final time, but the much-promised mute button seemed to have gone missing.
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off in Nashville Thursday night for their final debate before the election. After a torrent of interruptions turned the first debate chaotic, the Commission on Presidential Debates stipulated that each candidate's microphone would be muted during the other's initial two-minute response to each topic but left on during the open discussion that followed.
Who's working the mute?
How did mute work exactly? Pretty straightforward. It's not actually that there was a giant red button marked MUTE that debate moderator Kristen Welker, NBC News' White House correspondent, could punch when the candidates talked over each other. Each got two minutes to answer a question, and during that time, the other was muted. At points, there was opportunity for crosstalk, but there was no real discretionary mute button per se.
As the BBC notes, it was actually a member of the production crew who works for the Commission on Presidential Debates who turned off the respective microphones at the specified time.
But that didn't stop viewers from imagining who might have really been behind the button, and suggesting they weren't doing their job aggressively enough. Was it Baby Yoda on button duty? SpongeBob SquarePants? Aaron Burr? Maybe!
Shared one Twitter user: "Bigfoot. Nessie. Chupracabra. Mute Button Guy. All myths!"
Bigfoot. Nessie. Chupracabra. Mute Button Guy. All myths!#Debates2020
— Brian (@briandaly473) October 23, 2020
live footage of whoever's in charge of the mute button right now #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/sFZwVn3VhI
— emma lord (@dilemmalord) October 23, 2020
Actual footage of the "Mute Mic" guy attempting to do his job. #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/rZh4Nj3KVn
— Andrew Bain (@AndrewTheScribe) October 23, 2020
Is Aaron Burr the one choosing when to mute the mics? #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/Uw6nATkMci
— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) October 23, 2020
Live shot of the mute button guy #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/hUixvw5mpM
— Mike-ghoul 👻 (@michaelcollado) October 23, 2020
#Debates2020 #DebateTonight #PresidentialDebate2020 mute button guy backstage: pic.twitter.com/aXCwcNfRcr
— Steve (@SeeSteve) October 23, 2020
America looking for the mute button tonight like #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/M4uz62QNss
— Houston's XFactor (@messi0103) October 23, 2020
The person with their finger on the mute button needs to be replaced. #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/Rq5uzaFQfD
— Ahmed Ali (@MrAhmednurAli) October 23, 2020
BREAKING
— Teddi Turnbuckle (@TeddiTurnbuckle) October 23, 2020
FOOTAGE LEAKED of the Mute Button operator being kidnapped.
FBI are investigating. #Debates2020 #debate pic.twitter.com/ghRbDUK3pu
More muting wanted
Regardless of how the rules said the button would be used, social media wanted more of it. "This debate has a fever and the only prescription is more mute button," one wrote. Wrote another, "I hoped the mute button would win the debate."
This debate has a fever and the only prescription is more mute button pic.twitter.com/VlG7Aecgrt
— Jay Smooth (@jsmooth995) October 23, 2020
mute the mics
— NextGen America (@NextGenAmerica) October 23, 2020
mute the mic
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mut
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ma
mak
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make a
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make a pl
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make a plan 2
make a plan 2 v
make a plan 2 vo
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make a plan 2 vote https://t.co/XMIh4ILnd0
Is the mute button too far to reach? #PresidentialDebate2020 pic.twitter.com/9iVopWvokc
— Jerbur. (@jerehmeee) October 23, 2020
I hoped the mute button would win the debate. pic.twitter.com/fuuTOtKkQQ
— 🍬🎃 presidential push 2 talk button ✊🏽 (@Vergiliaux) October 23, 2020
The first debate, held on Sept. 29, was a rancorous affair filled with the interruptions that led to the microphone muting rule. President Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19, pulled out of the second debate because he wanted to debate in person, not virtually. Dueling town hall events were held instead.
Thursday's event was the last presidential debate planned. The US presidential election is Nov. 3. Here's everything you need to know about voting by mail, polling places and online ballots.