Won’t he just move over to Biden’s mike and use that if they mute his own? Since his “strategy” (a.k.a. the only thing he’s good at) is to cause chaos, that would be a logical thing to do.
He could, but it won't help him. From what I've seen around the internet anecdotally, even some of his own supporters seemed embarrassed over his behaviour that night.
I don't think this is a deliberate strategy tbh. He's 7-8 points down, turning every debate into an unwatchable draw doesn't benefit him in any way. He needs to make gains.
All the early empirical evidence I've been able to find suggests that
if the debate had any effect at all, it was a net loss for Trump. The Biden campaign broke
fundraising records an hour after the event (with 60,000 new donors as well), and if you look at all the post-debate polls (
CNN,
CBS,
538) - it's not just that they all show Biden doing better, it's also that they show Biden actually gaining favourability and Trump losing it.
So if Trump came into the debate intending to do what he did from the start, he's a goddamn idiot (which I realise isn't news).
I just think he ended up letting his raging narcissism get the better of him in the heat of the moment though.