Chris Wallace Hails Lack of Crowd in Upcoming Trump-Biden Debates: ‘The Audience Was a Pain in the Neck’

CNN’s Chris Wallace is glad the two debates between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be sans audience.

Biden and Trump agreed on Wednesday to debate on June 27 and Sept. 10, with the events being hosted by CNN and ABC, respectively. In addition to no audience, the candidate who is not the recognized speaker will have his microphone cut. Meanwhile, Trump has said he wants to debate more than twice.

Appearing on Wednesday’s CNN NewsNight, Wallace – who moderated the infamous first debate between Biden and Trump in 2020 – was asked about the lack of audience. Except for the Covid year of 2020, not since 1960 has a presidential debate been held without one.

“So, there’s also this issue of the studio audience or lack thereof,” host Abby Phillip said. “Personally, I think at this point it’s smart perhaps to take it out of the context of public opinion and the kinds of party operatives. What do you think about it?”

Wallace, who has moderated several presidential debates, wholeheartedly agreed.

“I do too,” he said. “I always felt that the audience was a pain in the neck. Some people are saying, ‘Well, that’s going to hurt Trump because plays to a crowd.’ I can tell you, as somebody who’s been on that general election debate stage twice in 2016 and 2020, people aren’t playing to the crowd. It is a very intense circle there between the two candidates whose podiums are just 10 feet apart and the moderator who’s about 10 or 15 feet away from them. Nobody’s playing to the crowd. Now, the crowd does get involved occasionally and the moderator has to play schoolmarm and turn around and say, ‘Be quiet,’ but I think it’s overstated the advantage that it gives either one of them.”

Wallace called a debate audience “an unnecessary distraction” and said not having one is “very much a positive for the millions of people at home who are watching.”

Watch above via CNN.