Trump V Harris TV Debates in Crisis: Don and Kamala Warring Over Hot Mics — 'His Team Fears He Can't Stop Ranting!'
ABC News will move forward with muted mics for the second presidential debate.
Aug. 26 2024, Published 8:45 a.m. ET
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are warring over the rules for the upcoming presidential debate on ABC next month – as Don's own team doesn't believe the ex-president can last 90 minutes on a hot microphone without saying something controversial.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Vice President Harris, 59, wants both her and Trump's microphones on throughout the entirety of the debate in Philadelphia on September 10, while Trump wants the mics muted.
Brian Fallon, the Harris campaign's senior adviser for communications, said: "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.
Vice President Harris wants her and Trump's microphones on for the entirety of the debate.
"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.
"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."
Another insider told Politico: "She's more than happy to have exchanges with him if he tries to interrupt her.
"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."
The Trump campaign responded: "We said no changes to the agreed upon rules."
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign believes the 78-year-old ex-president and Harris should be subjected to the same debate rules Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to before Biden ended his re-election campaign and dropped out of the race on July 21.
Trump's senior campaign advisor Jason Miller told Politico: "Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate.
"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."
He continued: "If Kamala Harris isn't smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that's their problem. This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won't allow Harris to do interviews, they won't allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat-sheet for the debate.
"My guess is that they're looking for a way to get out of any debate with President Trump."
Trump cast doubt on the ABC debate in a fiery Truth Social post on Sunday night. He branded Harris a "Marxist candidate" and told his supporters to "stay tuned" regarding whether he will even show up for the face-off.
He wrote: "I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl's(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?
"Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala's best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise.
"Where is Liddle' George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved. They've got a lot of questions to answer! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!"
Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to several rules – including no live audience and muted microphones – when they agreed to the CNN and ABC debates earlier this year.
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As RadarOnline.com reported, Trump and President Biden, 81, agreed to a certain set of rules when they first agreed to two presidential debates earlier this year.
The first debate, which was hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27 and marked the beginning of the end for President Biden's re-election campaign, was held in a CNN studio with no live audience. The network also muted the candidates' microphones when it wasn't their turn to speak.
According to Politico, Vice President Harris – upon taking over for Biden as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee – agreed to the ABC debate while "making clear to the network that the rules themselves were up for debate".
While Harris agreed to debate Trump in Philadelphia next month, she has declined to participate in a Fox News-hosted debate against the former president on September 4.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Harris and Trump for comment.
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