Harris Campaign Says Rules for ABC Debate With Trump Still Not Finalized

(Left) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an event in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 15, 2024. (Right) Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., on Aug. 16, 2024. AP Photo

Vice President Kamala Harris’s team is still trying to hammer out the final rules for her upcoming debate with former President Donald Trump, a spokesman said on Aug. 29.

Brian Fallon, the spokesman, said on the social media platform X that the Trump campaign asked the Harris campaign to accept having microphones at the debate muted when the other candidate is talking.

“We find the Trump’s team’s stance to be weak, and remain in discussions with ABC on the final rules,” Fallon wrote.

A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to an inquiry. ABC declined to comment.

The Sept. 10 debate was originally slated to feature Trump and President Joe Biden, but the latter exited the 2024 race after the first debate between them and Harris was later chosen by Democrats to replace him atop the ticket.

Trump agreed to debate Harris instead but there have been disagreements over the rules, primarily over whether the mics should remain on the whole time or only when each candidate is speaking.

In the first debate, Trump’s mic was muted when he was not speaking, as was Biden’s.

“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,” Trump told reporters in a recent appearance.

Fallon said in response that the Harris campaign wanted the mics to be live, a position the Trump campaign portrayed as seeking to change the established rules. On Aug. 26, he said that Trump’s support for the live mics meant the disagreement was resolved.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday that the rules for the ABC debate would be the same as the first debate, which aired on CNN.

Those rules “seemed to work out well for everyone except” Biden, Trump said.

The rules include having the candidates standing, no notes or “cheat sheets,” and neither side being given questions in advance, according to Trump.

No other debates are currently scheduled between Trump and Harris.

Trump has floated another debate on Fox News, but the Harris campaign has not said the vice president will commit to that debate.

Voters are scheduled to start voting as early as Sept. 16, with a number of states having early voting.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, are scheduled to debate on Oct. 1.