Vice President Harris I took another swing. On Saturday, Trump slammed former President Donald Trump over the dispute over the rules for the next debate, claiming he was “giving in to his advisers” by supporting muting microphones.
“Donald Trump is caving to his advisers who won't allow him to debate on a microphone,” Harris said in a post on social media platform X. “If Trump's own team doesn't trust him, he surely can't be trusted by the American people.”
“We're running for president of the United States,” the vice president continued, “and we're going to have a transparent debate with the microphones on.”
Harris' statement In response A thread by Washington Post reporter Josh Dorsey outlining the rules for the upcoming debates that Trump has accepted and what her campaign has been calling for.
The vice president echoed similar criticism made by his own campaign earlier this week.
The Democratic candidate's campaign said Thursday that it was still in discussions with ABC about the issue of muting microphones. An email from ABC to campaign officials obtained by The Hill said the microphones would only be enabled for the candidate whose turn it was to speak, and would be muted when it was the other candidate's turn.
“The memo that ABC sent was a proposed set of rules that both sides would have had to sign to show their agreement. We didn't sign it because we believe both candidates made it very clear that they wanted a hot mic,” said Harris spokesman Brian Fallon. I wrote to X“It is unclear why Trump's staff would ignore the opinion of a principal who should be able to make his own judgment.”
The former president suggested earlier this week that he wouldn't mind his microphone being muted, but his campaign has maintained that it isn't.
The Trump campaign also suggested Harris would go into the debate on the back of her defeat after fighting to change the debate rules.
“At this point, the debate rules aren't changing, so it would be a loss if the Harris campaign ultimately accepted, or an even bigger loss if she pulled out of the debate because the Dana Bash/CNN interview didn't go well,” a prominent Trump supporter told The Hill at the time.
It was Harris' first major interview since becoming the top candidate following President Biden's July decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris, and the vice president exited the show without any major gaffes or major news.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign.
