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Kamala Harris’s campaign is reportedly in a dispute with Donald Trump’s team over whether to keep the candidates’ microphones on throughout the entire presidential debate on September 10 — as the former president suggested on social media Sunday night that he might not debate her at all.
The Harris campaign is pushing to keep the microphones on the entire time, a deviation from the Biden campaign’s initial request.
“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,” Brian Fallon, senior adviser for communications for the Harris campaign, told Politico.
“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,” Fallon added.
But Trump’s campaign is insisting that the Harris campaign is trying to change the rules with the hope that Trump will skip out on the debate.
“Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser for Trump, told Politico.
The disagreement over muted microphones has stirred speculation about whether Trump will follow through on his commitment to debate Harris.
He’s already criticized ABC News for hosting the debate, insisting the network does not treat him fairly. And on Sunday night, the former president attacked the network after Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton appeared for an interview, calling it “ridiculous and biased” on Truth Social.
“Why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” he asked.
Trump echoed that statement on Monday while speaking with reporters in Virginia, where he said his campaign is “thinking about” participating in the debate.
“We’re thinking about it. They also want to change the rules. You know, the deal was we keep the same rules. Now, all of a sudden they want to make a change in the rules because she can’t answer questions,” Trump said.
But he added that it “doesn’t matter” to him if the microphones remain on throughout the debate, saying he would “rather have it probably on.”
The terms of the ABC debate — which is slated to take place in Philadelphia — were agreed upon before Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.
Miller said Harris’s campaign had asked to change it to a seated debate, with notes allowed and opening statements, butthey turned down those requests.
“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,” Miller claimed.
So far, the September 10 debate is the only one Trump and Harris have agreed to. The former president has suggested adding other debates hosted by NBC News or Fox News.
Muted microphones may have benefitted Trump during his first presidential debate against Biden since he, historically, has interrupted other candidates. During that debate, the muted mic seemed to keep Trump focused, as Biden stumbled over many of his statements.
