As both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump gear up to face off on Sept. 10 in a debate hosted by ABC News, the campaigns are in a disagreement over whether microphones will be muted while the candidate is not speaking, according to multiple media reports.
The first debate of the 2024 presidential cycle, hosted by CNN on June 27, used muted microphones, rules which were mutually agreed upon at the time between President Joe Biden and Trump’s campaign. The Harris campaign is now looking to renegotiate said rules, looking for microphones to be hot during the entire ABC News debate.
“We have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” Brian Fallon, the Harris campaign’s senior adviser for communications, said in a statement.
“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” Fallon added. “We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”
According to Politico, Harris’ team believes that by having microphones on at all times, Trump will inevitably lose his cool on national television.
The Trump campaign is pushing back against the strategy, with Jason Miller, senior adviser for Trump telling Politico, “Enough with the games.”
“We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate. The Harris camp, after having already agreed to the CNN rules, asked for a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements. We said no changes to the agreed upon rules,” Miller continued. “If Kamala Harris isn’t smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that’s their problem. This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won’t allow Harris to do interviews, they won’t allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat-sheet for the debate. My guess is that they’re looking for a way to get out of any debate with President Trump.”
Trump, however, seemingly veered off his campaign messaging when asked on Monday whether he would want the microphones to be muted in the upcoming debate, saying “We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know, doesn’t matter to me.”
Fallon replied to the comment saying he “Always suspected it was something his staff wanted, not him personally.”
“With this resolved, everything is now set,” for the September debate, the Harris campaign’s senior communications advisor confirmed on social media.
Trump said unmuting the mics “doesn’t matter to me.” Always suspected it was something his staff wanted, not him personally.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 26, 2024
With this resolved, everything is now set for Sept 10th. https://t.co/l98QiTD9lh
Harris hasn’t been the only candidate to request rules updates since Biden withdrew. Trump has repeatedly called for a revision, specifically including a “full arena audience,” after CNN’s debate had a closed-door policy.
