Presidential debate scheduled for September 10 on ABC News could be at risk
Trump suggests he could bow out of debate, takes shots at ABC
Former President Trump discusses the upcoming ABC debate and efforts by the Harris campaign to change the rules.
The Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns exchanged insults over debate rules on Monday with the two sides beefing about microphones.
Trump and Harris previously agreed to a September 10 debate on ABC News, but bickering over whether candidates’ microphones will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak have put the event at risk. In June, when President Biden was still on the ticket, both sides agreed to mutually negotiated rules – including team Biden’s mandate that mics would be muted.
Trump suggested adding additional debates once Biden stepped aside and was replaced by Harris, but the Harris campaign insisted on moving forward with the previously planned event. Trump’s team has since accused Harris’ campaign of playing "games" as the vice president’s team seeks to make microphones live throughout the event – a drastic change from the rules Biden’s team insisted on.
After Trump suggested in a social media post that he might skip the Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, spokesman Jason Miller said the Harris campaign was trying to change the set-up of the debate that had already been laid out.
TRUMP, HARRIS CAMPAIGNS CLASH OVER DEBATE RULES: 'WE SAID NO CHANGES'
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)
"Enough with the games," Trump spokesperson Jason Miller told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate."
Miller continued: "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. 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."
The CNN debate went well for Trump, as the agreed-upon microphone muting allowed former President Biden to step on a rake without Trump interrupting or speaking over him.
Trump, however, seemed to distance himself from the notion that the microphones are a big deal to him either way.
"The deal was that we keep the same rules, now all of a sudden they want to make a change in the rules," Trump said Monday at an event in Falls Church, Virginia.
"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," Trump continued. "I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine."
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President Biden and former President Trump debated in June. Candidates’ microphones were muted when was not their turn to speak. (Getty Images)
Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall feels the mics being cut off when candidates are done speaking would help Trump.
"I think it makes Trump appear more civilized," Marshall told Fox News Digital.
"It makes Trump appear saner, not as unhinged, so I understand why the Harris campaign wants it that way, and I also understand why Kamala Harris may not want it that way, because I don’t think he can control himself from interrupting," Marshall continued. "If he goes off and starts to personally attack her, that’s definitely going to benefit her because it’s going to make her look more presidential."
Conservative radio host Jason Rantz called Harris’ team attempting to change the rules a "desperate stunt."
"Kamala Harris trying to renegotiate debate rules is a desperate stunt to distract from her abysmal record and unwillingness to do a press conference. Trump shouldn’t waste a second worrying about her taunts and stick to the original rules they all agreed to — she’s just trying to bait him into playing her game," Rantz told Fox News Digital.
"The Harris campaign is scrambling because they know she can’t hold her own in a debate without relying on gotcha moments and cheap shots," he added. "Which is why she wants the mic hot."
Harris campaign senior advisor, Brian Fallon, said that ABC and other networks should encourage both Trump and Harris to keep their mics on throughout the entirety of the debate.
"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 said. "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."
Many pointed out that it was Biden and Harris campaign staffers who wanted the mics muted in the first place.
"Whose idea was the mute button, Brian? He insisted that Kamala was the successor-in-interest to the previously agreed Biden-Trump debate, and now he's claiming the unilateral right to change the terms of that debate," Article III Project senior counsel Will Chamberlain wrote to Fallon on X.
Sen. Josh Hawley communications director Abigail Jackson added, "Trump wanted to negotiate debates and rules with Harris - the NEW Dem nominee. You guys refused and demanded to follow through with the debate Biden negotiated. These were Biden’s rules. You made your bed."
TRUMP'S DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST ABC, GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS CAN MOVE FORWARD, JUDGE RULES
The CNN debate went well for former President Trump. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler appeared on MSNBC on Monday and said microphones will be live unless "Trump allows his handlers to overrule him," appearing to imply that Trump campaign leaders don’t want the former president to be able to interrupt or talk over Harris.
"That is absolutely our preference… to have live microphones, so the American people can see both candidates for who they are and hear everything that comes out of their mouths," Tyler said.
Critics of Harris’ campaign have suggested they want to manufacture a viral moment that could emerge if she shut down a Trump interruption the way she told Mike Pence "I’m speaking" during a 2020 vice presidential debate.
Trump also has issues with ABC News, as he is suing anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation and recently scolded the Disney-owned network for its interview with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
