Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has agreed in a letter to ABC News to the terms of next week’s debate against former President Donald Trump, including that the candidates’ microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak, according to a person familiar with the debate negotiations.
The issue of microphones has become a point of contention as ABC News prepares for the debate scheduled for Sept. 10 in Philadelphia with moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis.
Kamala’s campaign again voiced its objections to the microphones’ status in a letter to the network, insisting that they believe the vice president will be “fundamentally disadvantaged by this arrangement.”
ABC News has offered assurances to Kamala’s campaign that if there is significant cross-talk between the vice president and Trump, the network may choose to turn on the microphones so the audience can understand what is happening.
The moderator would discourage any candidate from constantly interrupting and would also work to explain to viewers what is being said, according to the source familiar. Additionally, there will be reporters in the room who can also listen and report on what both sides are saying, the source added.
“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 a primary reason for her campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” the letter from Harris’ campaign to ABC News, shared in part with the CNN .
The campaign continued in the letter: “Despite our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is at risk of skipping the debate altogether, as he has previously threatened to do, if we do not adhere to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For that reason, we accept the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”
THE CNN has reached out to ABC News for comment.
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This content was originally published in Kamala’s campaign agrees to debate rules against Trump, including microphone off on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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