Kamala Harris Team Call Out Donald Trump Over Live Mics in TV Debate

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign team have said they do not want muted microphones at the ABC-hosted debate scheduled for September 10.
Brian Fallon, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign told Newsweek that there is a dispute between the two campaigns over whether microphones should be live because Trump would not be able to remain disciplined for 90 minutes.
“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,” Fallon said.
“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.”
Trump is known for frequent interruptions in presidential debates. In 2020, he interrupted Joe Biden 71 times, leading to Biden retorting “will you shut up, man?”
Muted microphones were used In the first presidential debate of 2024, a CNN-hosted clash between president Biden and Trump.
In 2016, Trump faced criticism for repeatedly speaking over Hillary Clinton, interjecting “wrong!” and at one point interrupting her outlining her position on Social Security by calling her “such a nasty woman.”
Fallon said that he suspects Trump’s campaign staff are concealing the microphone-muting dispute from him.
“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,” he said. “The Vice President is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”
Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign via email for comment.
Although Trump agreed to the debate earlier in August, he wrote on Sunday that he might not want to proceed with it due to his view that ABC News would be biased against him.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social late on Sunday night. “And I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?”
But Trump’s team told Politico that the ABC Debate would proceed, with muted microphones.
“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,” Jason Miller, senior adviser for Trump told Politico on Sunday.
“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.”