Teams for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are bickering over whether hot mics should be allowed during their scheduled Sept. 10 presidential debate on ABC.
Politico reported Monday that negotiations are knotted over that stipulation, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the issue.”
Unlike President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race to make room for Harris to be the Democratic nominee, the vice president and her team want the mics on at all times.
They believe the unmuted approach will lure Trump into unpresidential moments.
“We have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” Harris campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon told The Hill.
“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. “We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”
An unnamed Politico source delved deeper into the strategy. “She’s more than happy to have exchanges with him if he tries to interrupt her,” the person said. “And given how shook he seems by her, he’s very prone to having intemperate outbursts and … I think the campaign would want viewers to hear that.”
Trump’s camp, however, said it had already approved microphone restrictions for the upcoming showdown ― the same ground rules governing Biden’s ill-fated debate with Trump in June on CNN.
“Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said in a statement to news outlets. “The Harris camp, after having already agreed to the CNN rules, asked for a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements. We said no changes to the agreed upon rules. If Kamala Harris isn’t smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that’s their problem.”
Harris’ camp forcefully denied Miller’s seated-debate claim, as did a source, Politico reported.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering could be moot if Trump follows through on threats to drop out of the debate altogether. On Sunday, he asserted that ABC was biased against him. “Why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” he wrote on Truth Social. “Stay tuned!!!”
Earlier in the month, he posed a similar question. “I mean, right now, I say, why should I do a debate?” Trump asked Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”
Harris has gained startling momentum in the polls since.
