ABC News Rejects Kamala Harris' Last-Minute Bid to Change Trump Debate Rules — Rivals Will Keep Muted Mics
ABC News will move forward with muted mics for the second presidential debate.
Aug. 30 2024, Published 7:30 p.m. ET
Kamala Harris' last-minute bid to change the rules of the upcoming debate with Donald Trump was rejected.
ABC News declined to adopt the Harris campaign's request to have unmuted mics during the September 10 debate, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The decision comes after back-and-forth between the campaigns after Trump allies claimed Democrats were trying to set up Trump for blunders on stage.
The Harris campaign argued both candidates mics should remain unmuted during the 90-minute debate.
The rules for the September debate, which is scheduled to take place at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, will be similar to the set-up of the first presidential debate, in which then-candidate President Joe Biden faced off with Trump.
According to an email laying out the rules, Harris and Trump will only be allowed a pen, notepad and water bottle on stage. As was the case in the first debate, the candidate's mics will be muted when they are not called on to speak.
There will be additionally be no audience and pre-written notes are prohibited, according to the Post.
ABC News declined the request and will move forward with the same rules as Trump's debate against Joe Biden.
Trump's campaign remained firm in their position that the rules remain the same as the first debate against Biden; however, Harris' campaign argued the mics should be left unmuted.
Last week, a Trump ally reportedly informed both campaigns the September 10 debate would proceed forward following "CNN rules".
ABC News Chief Counsel Eric Lieberman reiterated in the email sent on Tuesday, August 27, the rules would remain the same as the previous debate when requesting "formal acceptance" from the campaigns.
Trump allies claimed the Harris campaign was trying to set up Trump for a blunder on stage.
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A source told the outlet: "At this point, Team Harris is going to be taking an 'L' when they finally accept, as the debate rules aren't changing, or they’ll take an even bigger 'L' if they back out of the debate because the Dana Bash/CNN interview goes poorly."
Harris campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon said they "have been asked" to accept the Republican nominee's request for the muted mics but stated the Democratic campaign remains "in discussions with ABC on the final rules".
Fallon wrote on X: "Our latest understanding is that even though Trump said Monday he would be fine with an unmuted mic, his handlers don’t trust him to spar live with VP Harris and are asking ABC to ignore Trump's comments and keep the mics muted or else they will back out of the debate for a third time."
"We have been asked to accede to Trump’s handlers' wishes on this point for the sake of preserving the debate. We find the Trump’s team's stance to be weak, and remain in discussions with ABC on the final rules."
Trump – wearing a bandage after he was shot in the ear on 13 July by a would-be assassin – has also pledged to set up a committee to probe the murders of and attempts to kill US presidents.
Meanwhile, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller claimed the Harris campaign "are completely full of it" during an appearance on Newsmax on Wednesday, August 28.
Miller said: "Everything was agreed to and set last week.
"The Harris people are trying to distract and come up with something shiny to move away from the fact that she's not doing interviews."
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