OMG, Did ABC News Just Do Right by Trump?

How about some good news for once in this stupidly close presidential race? And pinch me, please because it has to do with ABC News, host of the first Trump-Harris presidential debate — assuming it happens, of course.

Trump's debate performances have been hit or miss against Democrats. He did very well against Hillary Clinton in 2016, taking full advantage of her inherent unlikability. But 2020 went less well.

If I'm being honest — and that is my job — Trump's performance in his first debate against Joe Biden was bad enough that I've always wondered if he wasn't already suffering from COVID. That debate was held on Sept. 29 and Trump's diagnosis was announced on Oct. 2. His voice was off that night and so was his performance. Biden earned a reputation as a rude, dismissive, and bad-mannered debater but, instead of letting Biden play the bad guy that night, Trump behaved like Biden usually did.

It didn't serve him well at all, and that's why I breathed a sigh of relief when last June's repeat debate night would see both candidate's microphones muted when it wasn't their turn to speak. Trump might bellow when he shouldn't — he actually did, a couple of times, but not loudly enough for Biden's mic to pick him up well enough to be comprehensible — but he'd be nearly impossible to hear.

Even if Biden had been compos mentis that night, Trump would have performed much better than he did during the awful first debate four years ago. In no small part because of that muted mic rule.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this:

JUST IN: ABC News *REJECTS* Kamala Harris' Last Minute Request to Change Debate Format

ABC News has refused Vice President Kamala Harris' request for fully unmuted microphones during her September 10 debate with former President Donald Trump, following days of discussions.… pic.twitter.com/hlJPLAUq6b
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 29, 2024

Republicans perceived this request as an attempt to set a trap for their candidate.
According to a network email obtained by The New York Post, the debate will follow similar guidelines to Trump's June 27 CNN debate against President Biden.
Trump and Harris will be on stage with only a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water allowed.

So Harris isn't getting her wish to have prepared notes — ie, a cheat sheet — with her, either.

Don't worry, I'm not getting ahead of my skis on this one. Harris didn't get what she wanted on the microphones and the cheat sheets, but she'll still have “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis there to lob her softballs while they hurl Nolan Ryan fastballs right at Trump's head.

Did I just use skiing and baseball metaphors in the same short paragraph? Shame on me.

Anyway, the debate is scheduled for Sept 10, and I will, of course, drunkblog the whole show. But after ABC News just curb-stomped Harris' two big rules changes, I have to wonder if she won't find some new excuse to back out.

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