Microphone check: Dispute between Trump and Harris over microphones for planned presidential debate

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’ campaign teams insulted each other on Monday over debate rules, with both sides arguing over microphones.

Trump and Harris had previously agreed to a debate on September 10 on ABC News, but disputes over whether candidates’ microphones would be muted when it was not their turn to speak have jeopardized the event. In June, when President Biden was still in the race, the two sides agreed to jointly negotiated rules – including a requirement by the Biden team that microphones be muted.

Trump suggested adding more debates once Biden resigned and was replaced by Harris, but the Harris team insisted on going ahead with the previously scheduled event. Trump’s team has since accused Harris’ campaign of playing “games” as the vice president’s team attempts to keep the microphones on throughout the event – a drastic change to the rules Biden’s team had insisted on.

After Trump suggested in a social media post that he might not be able to speak in Philadelphia on September 10, spokesman Jason Miller said the Harris team was trying to change the already-determined schedule of the debate.

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“Enough of the games,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We accepted the ABC debate on exactly the same terms as the CNN debate.”

Miller continued, “The Harris camp, which had already agreed to CNN rules, demanded a sit-down debate, with notes and opening statements. We said there should be no changes to the agreed-upon rules. If Kamala Harris isn’t smart enough to repeat the message points her advisers want her to remember, that’s her 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 debate cheat sheet. My guess is 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 mute allowed former President Biden to step on a rake without Trump interrupting or interrupting him.

Trump, however, seemed to distance himself from the idea that the microphones would be a big deal for him in any case.

“The agreement was that we would keep the same rules, and now all of a sudden they want to make a change to the rules,” Trump said Monday at an event in Falls Church, Virginia.

“I don’t care, I probably would have preferred to have it on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as last time, in which case it was silent,” Trump continued. “I didn’t like it last time, but it worked out fine.”

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President Biden and former President Trump debated in June. The candidates’ microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak. (Getty Images)

Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall believes it would help Trump if the microphones were turned off when the candidates finished their speeches.

“I think it makes Trump seem more civilized,” Marshall told Fox News Digital.

“It makes Trump seem more reasonable, not so crazy, so I understand why the Harris team wants that, and I also understand why Kamala Harris might not want that, because I don’t think he can control himself from interrupting her,” Marshall continued. “If he goes ahead and starts attacking her personally, that will definitely benefit her because it will make her seem more presidential.”

Conservative radio host Jason Rantz called Harris’ team’s attempt to change the rules a “desperate ploy.”

“Kamala Harris’ attempt to renegotiate the debate rules is a desperate attempt to distract from her abysmal record and unwillingness to hold a press conference. Trump should not waste a second worrying about her jibes and sticking to the original rules that everyone agreed to – she’s just trying to entice him to play her game,” Rantz told Fox News Digital.

“The Harris campaign is in turmoil because they know she can’t hold her own in a debate without resorting to gotcha moments and unfair jabs,” he added. “That’s why she wants the mic hot.”

Brian Fallon, a senior adviser to Harris’ campaign, said ABC and other networks should encourage both Trump and Harris to keep their microphones on throughout the debate.

“We have told ABC and other networks that plan to air a potential debate in October that we believe both candidates’ microphones should be on throughout the broadcast,” Fallon said. “Our understanding is that Trump’s advisers prefer the silent microphone because they don’t believe their candidate can act presidentially for 90 minutes alone.”

Many pointed out that it was Biden and Harris campaign staff who called for the microphones to be muted from the beginning.

“Whose idea was the mute button, Brian? He insisted that Kamala was the successor of interest to the previously agreed-upon Biden-Trump debate, and now he is claiming the unilateral right to change the terms of that debate,” Will Chamberlain, lead attorney for the Article III Project, wrote to Fallon on X.

Abigail Jackson, communications director for Senator Josh Hawley, added: “Trump wanted to negotiate debates and rules with Harris – the NEW Democratic candidate. You rejected that and demanded to go through with the debate negotiated by Biden. Those were Biden’s rules. You made your bed.”

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The CNN debate went well for former President Trump. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Michael Tyler, communications director for Harris’ campaign, appeared on MSNBC on Monday and said the microphones would be on unless “Trump allows his advisers to overrule him,” apparently implying that Trump campaign leaders do not want the former president to interrupt or interrupt Harris.

“We clearly prefer live microphones so that the American people can see the two candidates as they are and hear everything that comes out of their mouths,” Tyler said.

Critics of Harris’ campaign have suggested they wanted to stage a viral moment that could occur if she fended off an interruption from Trump the way she told Mike Pence during a vice presidential debate in 2020: “I’m speaking.”

Trump also has problems with ABC News: He is suing anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation and recently reprimanded the Disney-owned network for its interview with Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark).

ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Jeffrey Clark and Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.