Harris Campaign Agrees to Muted Mic Rule for Debate
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Wednesday, the Harris campaign agreed to the contested rule that microphones be muted when it isn't a candidate's turn to speak during the upcoming presidential debate, after receiving assurance that the moderators would explain unheard exchanges.
Key Details: Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to the ground debate rules laid out by ABC News (Lean Left bias), which will host the debate on Tuesday, September 10th. In addition to muted mics, the candidates have agreed to stand behind their lecterns during the 90-minute debate and will not be allowed to bring pre-written notes or props on stage.
Key Quotes: “Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President,” the campaign wrote in a letter to ABC News. “Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate.” The Trump campaign said in a statement, it was “thrilled that Kamala Harris and her team of Biden campaign leftovers” have “accepted the already agreed-upon rules.”
For Context: The debate will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and be the first between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
How the Media Covered it: HuffPost (Left bias) reported that Trump had previously threatened to bail on the debate, calling ABC News "fake news" on Truth Social. Fox News (Right bias) reported that the Trump campaign had already agreed to muted mics, but the Harris campaign had believed that Trump might be goaded into backing out of the agreement.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Harris agrees to muted mic rule in debate with TrumpVice-President Kamala Harris has agreed to the rules of the upcoming TV debate against her opponent Donald Trump, including allowing mics to be muted when it is the other person’s turn to speak.
Ms Harris's campaign previously fought the muted mics rule, which was agreed by her predecessor in the presidential contest, Joe Biden. Analysts suggested Ms Harris's team believed the rule would benefit Trump.
But on Wednesday, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to the ground debate rules set out by host network ABC News.
The debate, scheduled...
From the Right
Harris campaign agrees to ABC presidential debate rules with some 'assurances:'Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to the final rules for the ABC News debate against former President Trump, allegedly following a few "assurances" from the network.
On Wednesday, ABC News released the official rules for Tuesday's debate between Harris and Trump, including the hotly contested rule that microphones be muted while a candidate is speaking.
The Harris campaign repeatedly pushed back on this rule, attempting to goad Trump into backing out of the original agreement to mute mics, even refusing to sign off on the rules last week in an attempt to renegotiate.
CNN reported Wednesday...
From the Left
Kamala Harris Team Says She'll Reluctantly Accept Debate Rules To Avoid Trump Ditching ItVice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has agreed to the rules of next week’s debate against former President Donald Trump, including keeping microphones off when it isn’t the candidate’s turn to speak.
But the Democratic nominee did not seem too eager to agree to the terms in her letter to ABC News informing them of her decision.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President,” the campaign wrote in a letter to ABC...
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