From the New York Post: ABC News has declined to adopt Vice President Kamala Harris’ request to have wholly unmuted microphones during her Sept. 10 debate with former President Donald Trump — after days of wrangling over what Republicans viewed as Democratic attempts to lay a trap for the GOP nominee.
A network email reviewed by The Post lays out similar rules as those for Trump’s June 27 CNN debate against President Biden — including no audience, no pre-written notes or props and muted mics when a candidate is not speaking.
Trump and Harris will be standing on stage and will only be allowed to have a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
The Republican campaign had insisted the debate — set to be held at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center — follow the same rules as the June showdown with Biden.
The report explains that the Harris team suddenly demanded on Monday that both candidates’ mics be unmuted for the entire debate.
Democrats had actually requested muted mics for the original debate between Trump and Joe Biden, but after that tactic backfired, they are now wanting the mics unmuted, and claiming that Trump “can’t handle” a debate with Harris without the benefit of her mic being muted.
Harris campaign senior communications adviser Brian Fallon claimed on Monday, “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. 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.”
“The vice president is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time,” he taunted. “Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”
Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller told Newsmax on Wednesday, “The Harris folks are completely full of it. Everything was agreed to and set last week. The Harris people are trying to distract and come up with something shiny to move away from the fact that she’s not doing interviews.”
“Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the [June 27] CNN debate,” Miller said. “The Harris camp, after having already agreed to the CNN rules, asked for a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements.”
Wednesday evening, Miller announced, “It’s all set. It’s in stone. Same rules as CNN, which means Kamala Harris cannot bring her notes. Kamala Harris cannot sit down during the debate. The mics are cut off so Kamala Harris and the moderators cannot interrupt President Trump.”
“It’s all set. It’s in stone. Same rules as CNN, which means Kamala Harris cannot bring her notes. Kamala Harris cannot sit down during the debate. The mics are cut off so Kamala Harris and the moderators cannot interrupt President Trump.” https://t.co/vLqbvlGcnL
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) August 28, 2024
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