Harris campaign rejects Trump’s claim of agreement on hot mics for debate

WASHINGTON >> Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign team on Tuesday rejected claims by his Republican rival Donald Trump that both sides had agreed to mute the microphones at the US presidential debate on September 10.

The issue remains the subject of ongoing discussions with host network ABC, said a Harris campaign official.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said an agreement had been reached and that next month’s debate would follow the same rules as the June 27 CNN debate with President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race due to his poor performance.

“The debate will be standing and candidates will not be allowed to bring notes or cheat sheets. ABC has also assured us that it will be a ‘fair and equitable’ debate and that neither side will be given the questions in advance,” Trump wrote.

There was no live audience at the CNN debate. Trump’s post made no reference to this.

The Harris campaign said the terms of the debate had not yet been finalized.

“Both candidates have publicly made clear their willingness to debate with unmuted microphones throughout the debate to allow for a substantive exchange between the candidates – but it appears Donald Trump is allowing his advisers to overrule him. Sad!” said a campaign statement, poking fun at Trump’s habitual use of the word “sad” in his statements over the years.

ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, conflicts arose between the two candidates’ campaign teams 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.

Harris’ campaign had said it wanted the network to keep the candidates’ microphones on throughout the event, rather than muting them when their opponents spoke, as it did at the last presidential debate. So-called “hot mics” can help or hurt political candidates by picking up offhand comments that were sometimes not intended for public consumption.

Although Trump’s team said they had already agreed to turn off the microphones, Trump himself later told reporters that he would prefer his microphone to remain on.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to close the microphones at the US presidential debate with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris on September 10.

The Harris team did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the debate moderated by ABC.

On Monday, conflicts arose between the two candidates’ campaign teams 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.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said next month’s debate would follow the same rules as the CNN debate in June with President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race due to his poor performance.

“The debate will be standing and candidates will not be allowed to bring notes or cheat sheets. ABC has also assured us that it will be a ‘fair and equitable’ debate and that neither side will be given the questions in advance,” Trump wrote.

There was no live audience at the CNN debate. Trump’s post did not mention that.

Harris’ campaign had said it wanted the network to keep the candidates’ microphones on throughout the event and not mute them when the opponent is speaking, as it did at the last presidential debate. So-called “hot mics” can help or hurt political candidates because they pick up offhand comments that were sometimes not intended for public consumption.

Although Trump’s team said they had already agreed to turn off the microphones, Trump himself later told reporters that he would prefer his microphone to remain on.

Trump’s campaign team had proposed another debate on Fox News for September 4, but the Harris team rejected it.