The campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are arguing in advance of their high-stakes Sept. 10 debate over whether microphones should be muted except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. While it’s common for campaigns to quibble beforehand over debate mechanics, both Harris and Trump are under pressure to deliver a strong performance next month in Philadelphia. The first debate during this campaign led to President Joe Biden’s departure from the race.
Quick Read
- Harris and Trump’s campaigns are in a dispute over microphone muting for their upcoming Sept. 10 debate, with both sides accusing each other of trying to manipulate the system.
- Trump hinted that he might skip the debate, criticizing ABC for being biased against him and questioning why he should participate.
- The Harris campaign wants microphones to be live at all times, with Harris spokesperson Brian Fallon stating that Trump’s team prefers muted mics because they don’t trust him to behave presidentially for 90 minutes.
- Trump’s spokesperson Jason Miller accused Harris’s team of requesting a seated debate with notes and opening statements, suggesting they want to give her an advantage.
- Trump reiterated that his campaign agreed to the same rules as the previous debate but accused the Harris team of trying to back out of the debate.
- This year’s debates are being organized by host networks rather than the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, complicating negotiations over debate rules.
- Microphone muting was previously implemented in a 2020 debate between Biden and Trump to prevent interruptions, which was praised for making the debate more substantive.
The Associated Press has the story:
Harris & Trump are having a new squabble over their upcoming debate, this time about muted mics
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
The campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are arguing in advance of their high-stakes Sept. 10 debate over whether microphones should be muted except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. While it’s common for campaigns to quibble beforehand over debate mechanics, both Harris and Trump are under pressure to deliver a strong performance next month in Philadelphia. The first debate during this campaign led to President Joe Biden’s departure from the race.
Trump on Sunday night raised the possibility that he might not show up on ABC, posting on his Truth Social network that he had watched the network’s Sunday show with a “so-called Panel of Trump Haters” and posited, “why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” and urging followers to “Stay tuned!!”
The current dispute centers on the muting of microphones when a candidate isn’t speaking, a condition both Biden and Trump accepted for their June debate hosted by CNN. Both sides are accusing the other of gaming the system to protect their candidate.
Biden’s campaign team made microphone muting a condition of its decision to accept any debates this year, and some aides now regret the decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts during the debate. That move likely would not have helped the incumbent Democrat’s disastrous performance.
The Harris campaign now wants microphones to be live all the time, according to Harris spokesman Brian Fallon, who issued a statement needling Trump. “Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” Fallon said. Harris “is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”
Trump spokesman Jason Miller retorted that the Republican nominee had “accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate.” He alleged Harris’ representatives sought “a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements.”
Miller then took a shot at Harris not sitting for an interview or holding a news conference since Biden ended his reelection and endorsed her, arguing her campaign now wants “to give her a cheat sheet for the debate.” The Harris campaign denied Miller’s claim that she wanted notes.
During a stop Monday in the Washington area following a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, Trump said “we agreed to the same rules” in terms of the Sept. 10 debate, adding: “The truth is they’re trying to get out of it.”
Complicating the negotiations this year is that debates are being orchestrated on an ad hoc basis by host networks, as opposed to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, through which debate rules were negotiated privately.
Microphones have been unmuted for both candidates for most of televised presidential debate history. The debate commission announced that its October 2020 debate would have microphones muted when candidates were not recognized to speak after the first Biden-Trump contest descended into a shouting match. The second 2020 debate with the microphone muting rules was widely celebrated for being more substantive than the earlier matchup.
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