First Trump-Biden debate was a 'mess' and 'not good for the audience': Ari Fleischer

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Ari Fleischer: ‘Democracy is not well served with interruptions during a debate’

Constant interruptions during a debate does not serve democracy well, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Wednesday in response to the first debate between President Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.

“I thought it was a mess," Fleischer told “Outnumbered Overtime". "I just don't think democracy is well-served when you have two candidates basically doing nothing but interrupt each other. The way debates actually work -- so viewers get something out of it -- is you hear a difference, you hear a clash, you hear one person speak with ideas, another person speak with ideas, and a bit of a rebuttal, occasional interrupting.

“But when the whole thing is marked by interrupting, it is not good for the audience at home, you really don’t benefit from it,” Fleischer added.

Biden attacked Trump as a “national embarrassment” in Cleveland Wednesday when asked how he would respond to voters who may have been turned off by the fractious encounter.

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“Maybe I shouldn’t say this,” said the former vice president, "But the president of the United States conducted himself the way he did and I think it was just a national embarrassment.”

Biden was also asked whether he would participate in the next two presidential debates and responded that he is "looking forward to it,” but would not "speculate" on the format of future debates.

“He not only attacked me constantly, but he also attacked the moderator,” Biden said of Trump. “I just hope there is a way the commission can control the ability to answer questions without interruptions.”

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“I went back to look at the beginning of the debate," Fleischer said in response. "Joe Biden interrupted first. He did it to Donald Trump while Donald Trump was speaking.

“I think there was a deliberate part of it by the president," he added. "I think he wanted to knock Joe Biden off his game."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.