Are these turned on? Yes, they are.
Live microphones will be used for the entire 90 minutes of next week's vice presidential debate between Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, CBS News announced Friday.
The hot mic rule is a departure from the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In both cases, moderators CNN and ABC News said the candidates would be silent unless it was their turn to speak.
CBS News added: Producers “reserve the right” to mute microphones if they see fit.
Waltz and Vance will face off Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the Tiffany Network studios in New York City.
The debate will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O'Donnell and “Face the Nation” host and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.
Other rules for the debate are the same as for the two presidential contests, including no audience in the studio, candidates standing up rather than sitting at the table, and no memos allowed.
Each candidate will have two minutes to speak in response to questions from the moderator, and their rivals will have two minutes to respond and then each will have one minute to rebut.
Vance won the coin toss and chose to give the closing remarks last.
There will be no opening statement.
Walz will stand on the right side of the stage as seen by television viewers, similar to the location chosen by Biden-Harris in the previous debate.
