Trump Campaign Questions September Debate with Harris Amid Microphone Dispute

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is raising concerns about a scheduled debate on September 10 with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC, according to a source familiar with the situation. The dispute centers around the debate’s rules, particularly the use of microphones.

Trump’s team is pushing for a format similar to the first debate with President Joe Biden, where microphones were muted for all candidates except the one speaking at the time. Trump himself criticized the network, labeling it as “biased” and attacking reporter Jonathan Karl and a panel he deemed as “Trump Haters” on his Truth Social platform. “Why would I debate Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump questioned.

On the other side, the Harris campaign is advocating for microphones to remain live throughout the debate. Brian Fallon, a senior adviser for the Harris campaign, stated that their preference is for both candidates’ microphones to be active during the entire broadcast. This stance marks a shift from the June debate when the Biden campaign also requested muted microphones except when it was a candidate’s turn to speak.

Fallon expressed skepticism about Trump’s team’s motivations, suggesting they might be concerned about Trump’s ability to perform well in a full-length debate without the aid of a mute button. “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,” Fallon said. He further speculated that Trump’s team might not have informed him of this dispute to avoid embarrassment.

Trump’s campaign, however, contends that they agreed to the debate with Harris under the same conditions as the previous CNN debate. “Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate,” said Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign. He criticized the Harris campaign for requesting additional changes, such as a seated debate with notes and opening statements, which he claimed were not part of the initial agreement.

Miller also pointed out that the issue of microphone rules only seems to have emerged as Harris’ campaign began preparing for the debate. “Even their own campaign spokesman said the debate about debates was over. Clearly they’re seeing something they don’t like,” Miller remarked.

The Harris campaign has denied Miller’s claims regarding the request for a seated debate with notes.

This microphone rules dispute was initially reported by Politico. Despite these issues, both candidates are actively preparing for the debate. The ABC debate was confirmed earlier this month, but Trump has been vocal about his preference for a different format, including a debate with a “full arena audience” hosted by Fox News.

In preparation for the debate, Harris will be visiting Georgia this week and conducting a limited number of campaign stops, focusing on refining her debate strategies. Meanwhile, Trump has brought in former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a notable critic of Harris from the 2020 Democratic primary debates. Harris and Gabbard had several contentious exchanges during the primary, with Harris challenging Gabbard on her foreign policy views and Gabbard criticizing Harris’ criminal justice record.

The debate preparation is clearly heating up as both campaigns seek to leverage their strategies for the upcoming September clash.