Kamala Harris’ campaign accepted the terms of Tuesday’s presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, including the fact that the candidates’ microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak, according to a person familiar with the debate negotiations.
ABC News officially announced the rules on Wednesday, noting that both candidates had agreed to the format. ABC’s rules, first shared with the campaigns last month, largely mirror the format of CNN’s presidential debate in June between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Here are the rules of the debate:
- The candidates’ microphones will be muted when their opponent speaks
- There will be no audience
- The candidates will not be permitted to have written notes
- No staff can visit them during the two commercial breaks
- The candidates cannot ask questions of one another
- Trump, according to ABC News, won a virtual coin flip held earlier in the week to determine podium placement and order of closing statements during the debate. Trump chose to offer the last closing statement, and Harris chose the right podium position on screen.
In a letter to ABC News Wednesday afternoon agreeing to the rules, the Harris campaign again laid out their objections to the muted mics condition, insisting that they believe the vice president will be “disadvantaged” by the format.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” the letter from the Harris campaign to the network, shared in part with CNN, said.
The network, according to the source familiar, has offered assurances to the Harris campaign that if there is significant cross talk between Harris and Trump, it may choose to turn on the mics so that the public can understand what is happening, the moderator would discourage either candidate from interrupting constantly and the moderator would also work to explain to viewers what is being said.
