Fresh controversy has broken out over the Sept. 10 debate on ABC between Donald Trump and VP Kamala Harris, after the Harris campaign insisted that both candidates’ microphones be live throughout the full broadcast.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has insisted that mics be muted when candidates aren’t speaking – which worked out swimmingly for Trump during his June debate with President Biden. [We suspect muted mics will allow Trump to throw Harris off by talking massive shit when nobody else can hear, and her handlers know this.]

“We have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” said Harris campaign senior adviser, Brian Fallon, telling Politico

“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. 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.”

According to another person familiar with the negotiations, “She’s more than happy to have exchanges with him if he tries to interrupt her,” adding “And given how shook he seems by her, he’s very prone to having intemperate outbursts and … I think the campaign would want viewers to hear [that].”

Trump camp responds

The former president’s team has characterized this as a bait-and-switch, and wants the ABC debate governed by the same rules as the Biden debate.

“Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate. The Harris camp, after having already agreed to the CNN rules, asked for a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements. We said no changes to the agreed upon rules,” senior adviser Jason Miller told the outlet. “If Kamala Harris isn’t smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that’s their problem. This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won’t allow Harris to do interviews, they won’t allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat-sheet for the debate. My guess is that they’re looking for a way to get out of any debate with President Trump.”.

More via Politico:

There are a few points here worth noting:

The rules for the CNN debate were never agreed to by Harris’ campaign; they happened when Biden was still the candidate.

Trump himself has sought additional debates with rules different from the CNN standard, including proposing a Fox News-hosted debate on Sept. 4 with “a full arena audience,” as Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this month. (The CNN debate had no in-person audience.)

In 2020, the Trump campaign wanted mics to remain on during the whole debate. “It is our understanding … that you will soon be holding an internal meeting to discuss other possible rule changes, such as granting an unnamed person the ability to shut off a candidate’s microphone,” Trump’s then-campaign manager, BILL STEPIEN, wrote to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Oct. 19, 2020. “It is completely unacceptable for anyone to wield such power. … This is reminiscent of the first debate in 2016, when the President’s microphone was oscillated, and it is not acceptable.”

As for Miller’s assertion that Harris wanted a seated debate with notes, Fallon pushed back vigorously. “All three parties (Trump, Harris and ABC) have agreed to standing and no notes, and we never sought otherwise,” he said. Another source familiar with the negotiations laughed when we asked if Harris ever asked to be seated, saying it wasn’t true.

On Sunday night, Trump slammed ABC, writing on Truth Social; “I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?“

Harris’ campaign. meanwhile, says that when they accepted ABC’s invitation, ‘the rules themselves were up for debate.’ 

Let’s see how this goes.