Harris and Trump: Clash over microphone muting during the debate
The campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have clashed over whether ABC News, the host of the planned September 10 debate, should have the authority to mute candidates' microphones when it is not their turn to speak.
Vice President Harris's campaign believes that the microphones of both Trump and Harris should be unmuted throughout the entire debate, a spokesperson for her campaign confirmed. However, Trump stated that his campaign agreed to the same microphone rules that were in place during the first presidential debate between him and President Biden hosted by CNN in June.
Following that debate, Mr. Biden dropped out of the presidential race due to concerns regarding his ability to defeat Trump in November and his readiness for a second term. Prior to the debate itself, his campaign had clearly stated that the candidates' microphones should only be active when it was their turn to speak.
The first report about the dispute between the Trump and Harris campaigns regarding microphones was published by Politico Playbook.
„We have informed ABC and other networks wishing to organize a potential debate in October that we believe the microphones of both candidates should be active throughout the entire broadcast,“ Brian Fallon, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, confirmed to CBS News. „Our understanding is that Trump's advisers prefer muting the microphones because they think their candidate cannot act presidential for 90 minutes on his own.“
Fallon added that the Harris campaign suspects Trump's advisers did not inform the former president about this disagreement regarding the microphones because „it would be too embarrassing to admit that they don't believe he can handle Vice President Harris without the help of a mute button.“
Trump told reporters at a campaign rally in Falls Church, Virginia, on Monday, August 26, that the two campaigns agreed to the same rules as in June, and that „that's probably the way it should be.“
His campaign told CBS News that the changes to the debate format are coming from the Harris campaign.
Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign, told Playbook that the Harris team had requested a "sit-down debate." However, the Harris campaign told CBS News that this is a "100% lie."„
The Republican presidential candidate proposed three debates with Harris: with Fox News on September 4; ABC News on September 10; and NBC News on September 25. However, Harris agreed to participate only in the debate organized by ABC on September 10.
However, Trump has repeatedly hinted that he might pull out of the ABC debate. In a social media post on Sunday, the former president criticized host Jonathan Karl's interview and the panel on the show „This Week“ and wondered, „why would I do a debate with Kamala Harris on that network?“
However, a senior advisor to Trump's campaign stated that "of course" Trump still wants to participate in the debate.
SOURCE: CBC NEWS PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT
