The campaigns of Vice President and former President are arguing in advance of their high-stakes Sept. 10 debate over whether microphones should be muted except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
While it's common for campaigns to quibble beforehand over debate mechanics, both Harris and Trump are under pressure to deliver a strong performance next month in Philadelphia. The first debate during this campaign led to President departure from the race.
Trump on Sunday night raised the possibility that he might not show up on ABC, posting on his Truth Social network that he had watched the network's Sunday show with a 鈥渟o-called Panel of Trump Haters鈥� and posited, 鈥渨hy would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?鈥� and urging followers to 鈥淪tay tuned!!鈥�
The current dispute centers on the muting of microphones when a candidate isn't speaking, a condition both Biden and Trump accepted for their June debate hosted by CNN. Both sides are accusing the other of gaming the system to protect their candidate.
Biden鈥檚 campaign team made microphone muting a condition of its decision to accept any debates this year, and some aides now regret the decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump鈥檚 outbursts during the debate. That move likely would not have helped the incumbent Democrat鈥檚 disastrous performance.
The Harris campaign now wants microphones to be live all the time, according to Harris spokesman Brian Fallon, who issued a statement needling Trump.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don鈥檛 think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,鈥� Fallon said. Harris 鈥渋s ready to deal with Trump鈥檚 constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.鈥�
Trump spokesman Jason Miller retorted that the Republican nominee had 鈥渁ccepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate." He alleged Harris鈥� representatives sought 鈥渁 seated debate, with notes, and opening statements.鈥�
Miller then took a shot at Harris not sitting for an interview or holding a news conference since Biden ended his reelection and endorsed her, arguing her campaign now wants 鈥渢o give her a cheat sheet for the debate.鈥�
The Harris campaign denied Miller's claim that she wanted notes or to be seated during the debate.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather have it probably on,鈥� Trump said Monday during a stop in the Washington area, when asked if he wanted microphones muted. 鈥淚 didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine,鈥� he added, in terms of the policy during his debate with Biden.
鈥淲e agreed to the same rules 鈥� same rules, same specifications,鈥� Trump noted, for his Sept. 10 debate with Harris. "And I think that鈥檚 probably what it should be.鈥�
Asked how he was preparing for the debate, Trump responded, 鈥淚鈥檓 not. ... I think my whole life I鈥檝e been preparing for a debate.鈥�
Complicating the negotiations this year is that debates are being orchestrated on an ad hoc basis by host networks, as opposed to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, through which debate rules were negotiated privately.
Microphones have been unmuted for both candidates for most of televised presidential debate history. The debate commission announced that its October 2020 debate would have microphones muted when candidates were not recognized to speak after the first Biden-Trump contest descended into a shouting match. The second 2020 debate with the microphone muting rules was widely celebrated for being more substantive than the earlier matchup.
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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Colleen Long in Washington, and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
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Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, 麻豆视频 Carolina, and can be reached at
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
