Trump Responds To Rumored Harris Debate Request

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump slammed Kamala Harris’s campaign on Monday for attempting to alter the rules for the upcoming ABC News debate, suggesting that Harris and her team are trying to “get out” of participating in the event.

According to POLITICO, the Harris campaign is seeking a change to the previously agreed-upon rules, which would have allowed for the muting of the microphone of the candidate who is not speaking.

The Harris campaign claims that this rule was established during discussions between Trump and President Joe Biden for the June 27 CNN debate and the September 10 ABC News debate, prior to Biden’s withdrawal and Harris becoming the Democratic nominee.

In response to the Harris campaign’s recent actions, Trump stated that the vice president “doesn’t want to debate.”

Trump just now on the muted mics during the debate:

“We agreed to the same rules. I don't know. It doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn't like it the last… pic.twitter.com/yY0smQjrkK

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 26, 2024

“We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have [the microphones] probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time,” Trump said. “In that case, it was muted. I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine, and I think it should be the same. We agreed to the same rules and same specifications, and I think that’s probably what it should be, but they’re trying to change it. The truth is, they’re trying to get out of it because she doesn’t want to debate. She’s not a good debater. She’s not a smart person. She doesn’t want to debate.”

Brian Fallon, senior communications adviser for Harris’s campaign, informed POLITICO that the campaign had communicated to ABC, “that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast.” The Harris team argues that keeping Trump’s microphone on for the entire debate might lead him to interrupt Harris or make remarks that could negatively impact his performance in the eyes of voters.

“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,” Fallon added. “We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro commented on Monday that the Harris campaign’s attempt to change the debate rules is “pathetic and obvious.”

The only reason she wants a hot mic is so she can pull the same dumb crap she pulled with Pence, the "I'm speaking" moment when Trump interjects something. It's pathetic and obvious. https://t.co/Mu8CkctWA8

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 26, 2024

“The only reason she wants a hot mic is so she can pull the same dumb crap she pulled with Pence, the ‘I’m speaking’ moment when Trump interjects something,” Shapiro wrote.