Former President Trump and Vice President Harris have agreed to the rules laid out by ABC News for their first debate next week. The network announced Wednesday.
ABC News is set to air the next presidential debate between Trump and Harris on Sept. 10, the first since Biden dropped out of the race in July. The two candidates agreed to the rules after their sides clashed over whether to mute microphones when the other candidate is speaking.
The vice presidential campaign argued for a rule change to not mute microphones, but ABC said Wednesday that microphones would only be on when it was their turn to speak and muted when it was their opponent's turn to speak — the same microphone rules that Biden and Trump followed in their June CNN debate.
Next week's debate will be moderated by ABC's David Muir and Lindsey Davis and will take place behind closed doors at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The debate will be 90 minutes long, with two commercial breaks.
Trump won a virtual coin toss on Tuesday to determine the order of closing remarks and the position of the podium during the debate. ABC said Trump chose the order of closing remarks and would deliver the final closing remarks of the debate, while Harris picked the correct position at the podium on screen.
There will be no opening statements at the debate, and each candidate will be given two minutes to make a closing statement, according to rules.
Each candidate is given two minutes to answer a question, two minutes for a rebuttal, and one minute for a “follow-up, explanation, or response.” According to the rules, candidates are not allowed to ask each other questions.
Candidates will have a pen, notepad and a bottle of water, but will not be allowed to take notes or bring props in advance, according to the statement. Campaign staff will also not be allowed to interact with candidates during commercial breaks.
The debate came as many polls projected a close race between Harris and Trump, with the Hill Decision Desk's national polling average of 155 polls showing Harris leading Trump by four points.
