Trump agrees to ABC News debate with Kamala, campaigns argue over muting microphones

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has agreed to take part in a debate against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, on ABC News next month, two days after he said he might skip the debate.

The debate is scheduled to take place on September 10. It will be Trump’s first debate against Harris, who took over as the Democratic presidential candidate after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Trump and Biden faced off in a primary debate in June.

In a post shared on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he had made “an agreement with the radical left Democrats for a debate with Comrade Kamala Harris.”

He added: “The show will air live on Tuesday, September 10th on ABC FAKE NEWS from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by far the nastiest and most unfair news anchor in the business.”

Trump claimed he and Harris agreed to follow the same rules that he and President Joe Biden did during the June 27 CNN debate.

“The rules will be the same as the last CNN debate, which seemed to go well for everyone except maybe the cheating Joe Biden. The debate will be standing and candidates will not be allowed to bring notes or cheat sheets,” Trump wrote, adding that ABC had assured them of a “fair and just” debate.

But conflict remains over whether the microphones should be muted when the candidates are not speaking. The so-called “hot mics” can help or hurt political candidates, catching offhand comments that were sometimes not intended for public consumption, Reuters reported. Harris’ campaign said it wanted ABC to keep the candidates’ microphones on throughout the event. Trump’s campaign has pushed for the exact same rules as the Juen debate, including the microphones, even though the candidate himself has sent conflicting signals, The Washington Post reported.

On Monday, clashes between the two candidates’ campaign teams emerged over the previously agreed debate, with the vice president’s team calling for a return to open microphones while Trump threatened to withdraw completely after suggesting the broadcaster was biased, Reuters added.

Trump has proposed further debates, including one on September 4 on Fox News, but said the “radical left” does not agree.

According to ANI, his post said: “Harris would not agree to the FoxNews debate on September 4, but the date will be kept open in case she changes her mind.”