The campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are at something of a standoff over debate rules ahead of the Sept. 10 debate on ABC, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump’s team, the source said, wants microphones to be muted when the other person is not expected to speak, as was the case during the first debate with President Joe Biden. Harris’ campaign is asking ABC and other networks interested in hosting a potential debate in October to keep microphones on, according to a senior campaign official, marking a shift from the June debate, when Biden’s campaign at the time wanted microphones muted except when it was a candidate’s turn to speak.
“We have told ABC and other networks looking to host a potential debate in October that we believe both candidates’ microphones should be live for the duration of the broadcast,” Brian Fallon, senior communications adviser to the Harris campaign, said in a statement.
The Trump campaign argued that when it agreed to the ABC debate with Harris as the frontrunner, it was agreeing to the same guidelines as the previous debate.
The Harris campaign maintains that the muted microphones are the only remaining dispute, and while they wouldn’t mind making opening statements, they haven’t pressed the issue.
In a social media post Sunday night, Trump questioned whether or not he should participate in the ABC debate, criticizing the network’s coverage, including what he called a “panel of Trump haters,” asking, “why would I debate Kamala Harris on this network?”
The conflict over microphone rules was first reported by Politico.
