One of the defining features of the final presidential debate of 2020 was the addition of a mute button, with which candidates would be silenced after going over the two-minute time limit and when the other candidate was talking. This was in response to criticisms that candidates went over time and repeatedly talked over one another during the first debate, making it impossible to make out their responses.
Although Donlad Trump’s campaign staff were initially apprehensive about voters being able to hear what the president was saying, they quickly warmed up to the mute button as an effective way to prevent him from going off on incoherent, racist tirades.
“Sure, he said crazy things,” said Michael Norwich, a Trump staff member, “but he didn’t go into excess. He claimed that he was the best president for the Black community since Abraham Lincoln, that undocumented immigrants who turn up for their trials are ‘those with the lowest IQ,’ and that Joe Biden wanted to get rid of windows. Imagine how much worse it could have been without that mute button there.”
Many people close to Trump in the White House agree.
“The threat of being muted really helped to get the president to behave,” said Gabriel Katz, one of Trump’s handlers. “Usually we just tell him that we’re going to give him a time out, which means he’ll miss snack time. Sometimes this works, but sometimes he throws a tantrum and retweets something saying that Harriet Tubman is still alive and supports his presidency.”
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien has proposed turning this into a remote, which could be pointed at the president to silence him whenever he says anything outrageous or offensive.
“Basically, we would just have a staffer follow him around and mute him every time he opens his mouth,” Stepien said.
Already, there has been an increased public interest in such a remote, and researchers are looking for ways to mass produce it for domestic audiences.
“There’s been huge demand from across the political spectrum,” said remote engineer Rachel McGrady. “Liberals are afraid that their bodies will have severe allergic reactions to listening to Trump for extended periods of time, and conservatives don’t want to be reminded that they’re voting for this guy.”
“It’s a win-win,” said Katrina Pierson, a Trump campaign senior advisor. “The bottom line is that the less voters know about Trump’s actual opinions, the more likely he is to be re-elected.”
Photo courtesy of purpcheese/Flickr
