Harris accepts rules for September 10 debate with Trump on ABC, including microphone muting

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President (*10*)Kamala Harris accepted the rules set for next week’s debate with the previous president Donald Trumpalthough the Democratic candidate says the choice to go away each candidates’ microphones on throughout the showdown will work against her.

The announcement, made Wednesday in a letter from Harris’ campaign to host ABC News, appears to mark an end to the microphone muting debate that has threatened to disrupt the presidential debate scheduled for September 10 on the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Harris’ adoption of the debate rules got here as Trump, profiting from an evening he had was proposed as a debate with Harris on Fox News Channel — as a substitute sat down for a solo sit-down with host Sean Hannity in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in preparation for a debate with a longtime ally who asked him about his plans to face the Democratic nominee.

President Joe Biden The campaign made muting microphones, except for the candidate whose turn it was to talk, a condition of its decision to just accept any debates this yr. Some aides said they now regretted that call, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts in the course of the June debate. The Democratic incumbent’s disastrous performance contributed to his departure from the campaign.

When Harris replaced Biden as her party’s presidential candidate, her campaign advocated for live microphones throughout the debate, saying earlier that the practice would “fully enable substantive exchanges between the candidates.”

But Harris’ advisers said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday that the previous prosecutor “will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President.”

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“We suspect this is a primary reason his campaign is pushing for microphone muting,” her campaign representative added.

Despite these concerns, the Harris campaign wrote, “we understand that Donald Trump poses a risk if he skips the debate entirely, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not agree to his preferred format.” In order “not to jeopardize the debate,” the Harris campaign wrote, “we have accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”

According to a Harris campaign official, a bunch of reporters shall be on hand to listen to what the muted candidate could be attempting to say when his microphone is off. That detail was not included in the total debate rules, also released Wednesday by ABC, that are essentially the identical as those for the June debate between Trump and Biden.

The network set the parameters of the essential format — 90 minutes with two industrial breaks — in line with specifications that moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis “will be the only ones asking questions,” presumably in hopes of avoiding an open discussion between the candidates.

“Moderators will endeavor to enforce time limits and ensure that the discussion proceeds in a civilized manner,” the network noted.

A Harris campaign official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate debate scheduling, said a candidate who repeatedly interrupts will receive a warning from the moderator, and each candidates’ microphones could also be turned on if there is critical disruption so the audience can understand what is occurring.

After Tuesday’s virtual coin toss, which Trump won, the GOP nominee opted to deliver a closing statement, while Harris selected a podium to the proper of viewers’ screens. There shall be no audience, written notes and no topics or questions shared prematurely with the campaigns or candidates, the network said.

During Wednesday’s meeting with residents, Hannity discussed most of the topics typical of the GOP nominee’s campaign events with Trump, placing particular emphasis on immigration, and took questions after showing video clips of Harris’ media interviews and other appearances.

Trump also shifted attention from Harris to Biden several times, calling the Democratic alternative of his leading candidate a “coup” and stating he would favor a debate with Harris over a town hall meeting.

Asked about next week’s debate, Trump repeated his previous criticism of ABC, calling it a “dishonest” and “unfair” network, while also repeating his previous claims that the Harris campaign “will be answering questions ahead of time.”

The location of Trump’s town hall meeting and next week’s debate in Philadelphia underscore the importance of the important thing area of ​​Pennsylvania, where 19 Electoral College votes shall be up for grabs in November’s election.