Ted Cruz calls on Trump to agree to Harris’ campaign’s ‘stupid’ debate rules

WASHINGTON (TN) — Senator Ted Cruz (Republican of Texas) on Monday called on former President Donald Trump to agree to all the “stupid rules” that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team is demanding for the upcoming presidential debate.

Both campaigns are battling to approve debate rules for their crucial first meeting, scheduled for Sept. 10 on ABC News. The current issue is silent microphones, a provision originally negotiated between Trump and President Joe Biden.

The Harris campaign team is calling for the microphones to be muted and accusing Trump’s teams of doubting “whether their candidate can act as president alone for 90 minutes.” Trump, on the other hand, wants to stick to the conditions previously negotiated with Biden.

In an appearance on Fox News, Senator Cruz addressed the back and forth, saying Trump should accept Harris’ campaign’s offer, no matter how unfair it seems.

“I think Trump needs to have the debate,” Cruz said. “And frankly, I think he should agree to whatever stupid rules they want. It’s going to be hostile and rigged either way.”

“I think Kamala Harris would prefer to cancel the debate and blame it on Trump,” he added. “She’s in a basement, they don’t want her to ever be challenged. If they have an excuse to walk out of a debate, they can literally do nothing for the next 71 days and rely on the mainstream media to lie.”

Republicans continue to put pressure on Harris to meet with the press as she appears to avoid formal interviews and instead attend large rallies. CNN anchor Jim Acosta questioned a member of Harris’ campaign team on the issue in a live interview this month, asking, “Would it kill you to hold a press conference?”

Follow Jackson Walker on X at @_jlwalker_ for the latest national news. Have a news tip? Send it to [email protected].