There are questions before the presidential debate

Days before the scheduled presidential debate, scheduled for September 10, the candidates are still arguing about the format, location and procedure. These are just some of the signs of how important the debate will be. We don’t need to be reminded of how consequential the previous ones were for President Biden. His performance was so troubling that it led him to drop out of the race and leave it to Vice President Harris.

The question of whether microphones should be muted except when it is the candidate’s turn to speak is the most pressing question right now. Arguing about such things is common among candidates, as each seeks an advantage during the debate. Trump has again raised the possibility that he might not show up if ABC were the host. On his Truth social network on Sunday, he posted, “Why would I debate Kamala Harris on this network?” and urged his followers to “stay tuned.”

In the last debate between Trump and Biden, the microphones were muted, and there is little evidence that this helped or hurt the candidates, although Trump did use the open microphone several times during their 2016 encounter to interrupt Senator Hillary Clinton.

The nation is eager to see how Harris will deal with Trump, in what has been predicted to be a clash between the “prosecutor and the felon.”

Harris’ team has reportedly asked for the debate to be broadcast with microphones throughout. “Trump’s advisers prefer the silent mic because they don’t believe their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” said Brian Fallon, one of Harris’ campaign spokespeople. He said Harris was “ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”

Jason Miller, Trump’s spokesman, said Trump “accepted the ABC debate under exactly the same conditions as the CNN debate.” He claimed Harris’ representative had sought “a sit-down debate, with notes and opening statements.”

Even before the first round of debate, there are numerous questions that need to be answered.

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