I'm definitely seeing signs that the upcoming debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 10, at 9 pm ET won't happen. Why? Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey reported on Friday that the Harris campaign has not yet accepted the rules for the debate.
Trump campaign has accepted these rules, per Tuesday email to ABC reviewed by the Post. Kamala Harris's campaign has not yet accepted these rules, as they seek to unmute the microphones for the entire debate. Debate is in less than two weeks. https://t.co/H1fHM0O0s3
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) August 30, 2024
According to the rules, the debate will feature no audience, with VIP hold rooms for immediate family and staff areas on-site and in the media/spin room. The debate will be 90 minutes long, with two commercial breaks, and will follow a format without opening statements but with two-minute closing statements. David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News will moderate. Both podium placement and the order of closing statements will be determined by a virtual coin flip on September 3, where the winner can choose which aspect to decide.
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The candidates will not be allowed props or pre-written notes but will have a pen, a pad of paper, and water bottle. The debate will have strict rules on timing and microphone use, with lights indicating remaining time and microphones live only for the speaking candidate. No questions or topics will be shared in advance, and candidates cannot ask each other questions or have staff interaction during breaks. Moderators will enforce timing and "ensure a civilized discussion."
The rules are pretty simple and straightforward, and there's hardly anything worth making a big fuss about. Yet, on Saturday morning, Kamala Harris was crying foul, accusing Trump of playing games.
Donald Trump is surrendering to his advisors who won't allow him to debate with a live microphone. If his own team doesn't have confidence in him, the American people definitely can’t.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 31, 2024
We are running for President of the United States. Let’s debate in a transparent way—with the… https://t.co/mjyaiUTwAA
Let's not forget that it was the Biden-Harris campaign that wanted no live microphones for the first debate with Trump and Biden, and when Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, when Trump wanted to renegotiate dates, hosts, and rules for the debates, Kamala insisted that Donald Trump had already agreed to the date, host, and rules, and claimed he was trying to get out debating her. Kamala Harris essentially got exactly what she wanted, the same debate and rules that Trump had agreed to with Joe Biden, and now she's laying the groundwork to back out of the 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," Trump spokesperson Jason Miller said in a statement earlier this week. "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. Regardless, there’s no way Harris is ready to be Commander in Chief."
It's quite obvious that Kamala's campaign is freaking out about the debate, and is looking for a way out of participating.
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