The question of whether there will be muted microphones at the upcoming ABC presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris continues to be raised amid ongoing suggestions open mics may hinder the Republican.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he had agreed to the terms of the September 10 debate, and that the rules will be “the same as the last CNN Debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone except, perhaps, Crooked Joe Biden.”
The June 27 CNN debate, which saw Biden deliver such a languished performance he eventually abandoned his reelection bid, did not feature a live audience and had muted microphones to prevent interruptions and candidates shouting over the top of each other.
Harris’ campaign team have pushed for unmuted microphones at the ABC debate to allow the vice president to deal with Trump’s “constant lies and interruptions in real-time.”
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In a statement, Harris’ director of rapid response, Ammar Moussa, dismissed Trump’s suggestion that the terms of the ABC debate have been agreed.
“Both candidates have publicly made clear their willingness to debate with unmuted mics for the duration of the debate to fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates—but it appears Donald Trump is letting his handlers overrule him,” Moussa said. “Sad!”
Trump recently said that he would “rather” the microphones always on at the September 10 debate, but that the event should have the same rules as the one hosted by CNN.
Carl Cavalli, a professor of political science at the University of North Georgia, said that the issue of muted microphones is an “interesting volleyball” match between the candidates, but Harris may be hoping Trump’s temperament and proneness to outbursts will work in her favor.
“When Trump and Biden agreed to only one mic at a time for their June debate, most thought that would favor Biden with Trump unable to control himself, possibly shouting to get heard,” Cavalli told Newsweek. “But in the actual debate, one mic at a time seemed to work in Trump’s favor—making him seem more reserved than many had expected.
“I suspect the Harris camp wants open mics to encourage Trump disruptions. I think Harris wants the same kind of ‘Will you shut up, man?’ moment that Biden had in 2020.”
During the 2020 vice presidential debate between Harris and Mike Pence, Harris produced arguably the standout moment when she told the Republican “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” while he was interrupting her answering a question.
Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist and political analyst, told the BBC that Harris’ team are pushing for unmuted mics at the debate as Trump is “uncontrolled.” Cross said any potential personal attack Trump launches against the vice president may also “turn off voters” particularly women, minorities and young voters.
“If he does not want them unmuted, he’s going to look weak, like he cannot control himself,” she added.
Trump’s office has been contacted for comment via email.
Republican Florida congressman and Trump supporter Byron Donalds recently said Harris only wants unmuted microphones at the September 10 debate so she can create a viral moment against the former president.
“She wants to create some sort of moments, sort of YouTube spectacle, that can be replayed so she can hide behind the debate, as opposed to talking about the policies that impact the American people,” Donalds told Fox News.
“She wants to be able to create this moment where she owns Donald Trump for 10 seconds,” he said. “That’s just ridiculous. It’s not what matters in our country.”
There have been suggestions that Trump may use the discussion about microphones as a reason to pull out of the debate with Harris.
Cavalli suggested that this is something that Trump and his team are keeping “in their playbook.”
“The Trump campaign may fear that Kamala Harris will do much better than Biden did no matter what, so they may be looking for other ways besides debates to reclaim the lead,” Cavalli told Newsweek.