President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he was “fine” with having unmuted microphones for his upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. He also noted that the plan to use muted mics for his previous debate with President Joe Biden was something everyone had “agreed” upon. Trump, however, took the opportunity to criticize Harris as well.
The previous debate was horrible for Biden, and he dropped out of the race less than a month later. Following this, Democrats came together to support Kamala Harris, who, along with her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, officially accepted the party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention last week.
“We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine, and I think it should be the same.
We agreed to the same rules. Same rules, and same specifications, and I think that’s probably what it should be, but here they’re trying to change it. The truth is they’re trying to get out of it because she doesn’t want to debate. She’s not a good debater. She’s not a smart person. She doesn’t want to debate.”
According to Politico, the Democrat’s team is now requesting that microphones at both podiums remain unmuted throughout the two-hour debate scheduled for September 10th on ABC News. This request represents a shift from the Biden campaign’s earlier insistence that former President Donald Trump’s microphone be muted during their June 27th meeting. Harris spokesman Brian Fallon stated that Trump’s team should have no problem agreeing to this change if they trust their candidate.
“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,” Fallon, the Harris campaign’s senior adviser for communications, told Politico Playbook in a text message Sunday night. “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.”
Trump’s senior advisor, Jason Miller, dismissed the idea that the Republican candidate would agree to what he described as Harris’s “bait-and-switch tactics.” Miller emphasized that Trump will be ready to debate regardless of Harris’s presence. “Enough with the games,” Miller said. “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 added, “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.”