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The Biden-Harris campaign demanded specific rules for the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in late June. But now that Kamala Harris is the Democrat nominee, she claims the rules put her at a ‘disadvantage,’ so ABC News has agreed to ‘bend’ them just a little.
From Fox News: Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to the final rules for the ABC News debate against former President Trump, allegedly following a few “assurances” from the network.
On Wednesday, ABC News released the official rules for Tuesday’s debate between Harris and Trump, including the hotly contested rule that microphones be muted while a candidate is speaking.
The Harris campaign repeatedly pushed back on this rule, attempting to goad Trump into backing out of the original agreement to mute mics, even refusing to sign off on the rules last week in an attempt to renegotiate.
A letter sent to ABC News Wednesday afternoon complains, “Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones.”
Harris’s campaign has finally accepted the debate rules, including that the candidates’ microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak – except if they DO break the rules and start talking over each. Then, the moderators have to turn the mics on and tell the audience whatever the mics didn’t catch.
CNN reported on the exception:
The network, according to the source familiar, has offered assurances to the Harris campaign that if there is significant cross talk between Harris and Trump, it may choose to turn on the mics so that the public can understand what is happening, the moderator would discourage either candidate from interrupting constantly and the moderator would also work to explain to viewers what is being said.
Pool reporters, who can report on what they hear both sides saying, will also be in the room, the source added.
ABC News released the following list of rules agreed up for the September 10 debate between Trump and Harris:
- The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.
- The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.
- A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; former President Donald Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).
- Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.
- The candidates enter upon introduction from opposite sides of the stage; the incumbent party will be introduced first.
- No opening statements; closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.
- Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.
- Props or prewritten notes are not allowed onstage.
- No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.
- Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
- Candidates will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.
- Candidates’ microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.
- Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.
- Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.
- Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.
- There will be no audience in the room.
The rules as published by abc says “no audience” and mics will be muted. Pretty crappy of abc to secretly assure harris they WILL turn on the mics and allow pool reporters in the roomhttps://t.co/3Ci7TqhPuB
— LindaLoo (@LindaLoo1017) September 5, 2024
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