Trump, Harris Bickering Over Debate Mics

Question is whether they should be muted at times, as former president threatens to skip
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2024 11:23 AM CDT
Trump, Harris Bickering Over Debate Mics
File photos of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris at previous debates (though not against each other).   (AP Photo)

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are still scheduled to square off in their first debate on Sept. 10, though the former president appeared to cast some doubt on that in a social media post. Meanwhile, both sides were squabbling Monday over the rules about mics:

  • A threat? In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump suggested debate host ABC (including "Liddle' George Slopadopolus") is biased against him and asked, "why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?" The Sept. 10th debate is so far the only debate that both campaigns have agreed to conduct, notes the Washington Post.

  • The mics: Under rules originally set up between the campaigns of Trump and President Biden, a candidate's mic was to be muted when the other candidate was answering a question. However, the Harris campaign now wants both mics to be on at all times, reports Politico. As of Monday, the Trump campaign preferred to stick to the original rules.
  • Harris snark: Harris' team thinks it would gain from allowing people to hear Trump at all times during the debate. "Our understanding is that Trump's handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don't think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own," said adviser Brian Fallon.
  • Trump snark: Trump's team fired back over the disagreement: "After the Harris campaign has begun debate prep, they're clearly concerned about what they're seeing from Harris' performance," said spokesman Jason Miller, per the New York Times. He adds, per Politico: "My guess is that they're looking for a way to get out of any debate with President Trump."
(More Kamala Harris 2024 stories.)

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