Report: 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, reportedly after some “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 the microphone must be muted while a candidate is speaking.

The Harris team has repeatedly pushed back against the rule and tried to get Trump to back out of the original agreement to mute microphones, even refusing to sign the rules last week in an attempt to renegotiate.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Harris accepted the rules after receiving separate “assurances” that microphones would be allowed to be turned on during the debate and that moderators would explain any missed speech.

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“ABC News has assured the Harris campaign that if there were significant verbal exchanges between Harris and Trump, the network could turn on the microphones so the public could understand what was going on. The moderator would stop the candidates from constantly interrupting and would also make an effort to explain to viewers what was being said, the source familiar with the matter said,” CNN reported.

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The source reportedly added that pool reporters will also be in the room to report what is heard while the microphones are muted for the television audience.

An ABC spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “We have not made any further arrangements beyond the debate rules released today, which were agreed to by both campaign teams on May 15. We look forward to moderating the presidential debate next Tuesday.”

The Harris team sent a letter to the network officially accepting the debate rules but continuing to complain about the conditions.

“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, is fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which is designed to protect Donald Trump from direct interaction with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason his campaign team insists on muting microphones,” the letter said.

It continued: “Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump poses a risk if he cancels the debate altogether, as he has previously threatened to do if we do not agree to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For this reason, we accept all of ABC’s proposed rules, including muting microphones.”

TRUMP campaign manager accuses Harris team of having an eye on an “emergency exit” before the debate: “THEY ARE AFRAID”

After President Biden dropped out of the race in July, the Harris team insisted on going ahead with the previously agreed-upon ABC presidential debate. But weeks after Trump relented, the Harris team tried to change the rules to keep the microphones live throughout the event.

Although Trump was open to the idea, both he and his campaign team attacked Harris’ campaign for suddenly demanding changes.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign team for comment.

Source of the original article: Report: Harris campaign agrees to ABC presidential debate rules with some ‘assurances’