Whether he was supposed to or not, President Barack Obama had a cheerleader in the audience Wednesday night.

During Tuesday night’s debate in Hempstead, N.Y., first lady Michelle Obama applauded her husband’s handling of a question on Libya and embassy security. A catch by Real Clear Politics’ video site shows Michelle Obama applauding he husband, which appears to violate Article 9, Section A, Subsection 7 from the Commission on Presidential Debate’s rulebook (emphasis added):

“All members of the debate audience will be instructed by the moderator before the debate goes on the air and by the moderator after the debate goes on the air not to applaud, speak, or otherwise participate in the debate by any means other than by silent observation, except as provided by the agreed upon rules of the October 16 town hall debate.”

(h/t Ian Schwartz, RCP Video)

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