The Trump and Harris campaigns have been at odds over whether microphones should be muted at the upcoming debate, with former President Trump questioning his own participation.
The Trump campaign has said each candidate should mute their microphone when it is not their turn to speak, similar to the rules used during the Trump-Biden debate on CNN in June, but Harris’ campaign has pointed out that it was not the party that agreed to that rule and has called for microphones to remain open during the debate.
“We have informed ABC and other networks considering hosting the October debate that both candidates’ microphones should be on for the entire broadcast,” Harris spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement. “We understand that Trump’s inner circle prefers that microphones be muted because they do not believe a candidate can be presidential for 90 minutes alone.”
“I suspect the Trump campaign hasn’t even told their bosses about this controversy because they’re embarrassed to admit they think they can’t stand up to VP Harris without the mute button,” he added. “The vice president is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and obstruction in real time. It’s time for Trump to stop hiding behind the mute button.”
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said in a statement that the former president’s team rejected any changes to the rules agreed to for the CNN debate.
“This appears to be a pattern from the Harris campaign,” Miller said in a statement. “They have not allowed Ms. Harris to do interviews or press conferences, and now they are trying to give her a debate cheat sheet. My guess is they are looking for a way to get out of a debate with President Trump.”
Miller pointed to an Aug. 15 statement from Harris’ campaign claiming that “the debate about the debate” was over, and questioned the vice president’s motives.
“Obviously they’re seeing something they don’t like,” Miller said.
“I think that Biden is going to be the first to speak to the Biden campaign, and I think that’s the first time we’ve had a debate with him,” Harris said.
POLITICO FIRST Reported Regarding the disagreement over muting the microphone.
Some Biden supporters have argued that muting microphones during the June debate gave Trump an advantage because viewers were unable to hear the kind of interruptions that have marred Trump’s performance in previous debates.
The issue over the microphones has sparked fresh debate about whether the Sept. 10 debate will take place after the two sides appeared to reach an agreement during the debate.
Trump had previously agreed to a debate with Biden hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10. After Biden lost the top spot on the Democratic ticket to Harris, Trump initially pulled out of the ABC debate and questioned whether he would debate Harris.
The two ultimately agreed to have the debate hosted by ABC News. Trump had pushed for additional debates on Fox News and NBC News in September, but Harris’ campaign said they would only agree to hosting one on ABC News before discussing a possible second presidential debate.
But late Sunday, Trump was infuriated by the network’s “This Week” broadcast, which included critical panelists and an interview with host Jonathan Karl and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that he deemed “biased.”
“Why would I debate Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump asked on Truth Social.
The network said the debate will take place in Philadelphia and will be moderated by David Muir and Lindsay Davis.
Updated 9:03 a.m.
