Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has pushed back against statements made by former President Donald Trump regarding the rules for the upcoming US presidential debate scheduled for September 10, Reuters reports.
Trump claimed that both campaigns had agreed to keep the microphones muted during the debate, but a Harris campaign official said that the issue was still under discussion with host network ABC.
In a social media post earlier on Tuesday, Trump asserted that the debate would follow the same rules as the June 27 CNN debate he participated in with President Joe Biden, which Trump criticized after Biden’s performance led him to withdraw from the 2024 race.
“The Debate will be ‘stand up,’ and candidates cannot bring notes or ‘cheat sheets.’ We have also been given assurance by ABC that this will be a ‘fair and equitable’ debate, and that neither side will be given the questions in advance,” Trump wrote.
The Harris campaign responded to Trump’s claims, stressing that the terms of the debate have not yet been finalized.
“Both candidates have publicly made clear their willingness to debate with unmuted mics for the duration of the debate to fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates – but it appears Donald Trump is letting his handlers overrule him. Sad!” the campaign said in a statement.
The debate discussions have sparked tension between the two campaigns. Harris’s team has advocated for keeping microphones open throughout the event, allowing for direct exchanges without muting during opponents’ responses. These “hot mics” can lead to unexpected moments that may impact candidates’ performances.
On the other side, Trump’s team has mentioned that they had initially agreed to have closed microphones, yet Trump later indicated a preference for having his microphone active throughout the debate.
ABC News has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the ongoing debate preparations.
