Next month’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump won’t have an audience, live microphones when candidates aren’t speaking, or written notes, according to rules that ABC News, the host network, shared this week with both campaigns.
A copy of the rules was provided to the Associated Press on Thursday by a senior Trump campaign official on condition of anonymity ahead of the network’s announcement. The Harris campaign on Thursday insisted it was still discussing the muting of mics with ABC.
The parameters now in place for the Sept. 10 debate are essentially the same as they were for the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, a disastrous performance for the incumbent Democrat that fueled his exit from the campaign. It is the only debate that’s been firmly scheduled and could be the only time voters see Harris and Trump go head to head before the November general election.
I think something people forget is that the candidates are standing like 10 feet apart. So with Trump’s mic muted, we may not be able to hear him, but Harris probably still can.
I think that’s one reason Biden seemed so feeble in their debate—he was having trouble focusing on what he was trying to say with Trump rambling on in the background. With the mics muted and the camera focused entirely on Biden, that was totally unapparent to the viewer and it seemed like Biden was just losing his train of thought for no reason. I’m sure Biden told Harris as much, which is why the Harris campaign was pushing for unmuted mics.
I would love to see Harris just stop for a second, turn over towards Trump, and say something like “Your mic is turned off you know, could you stop yelling for a moment?”, and have the cameras cut to a silent video of Trump furiously yelling at his turned-off mic.
Donald, the adults are having a conversation now
If you’re gonna turn the mics off, just put them in separate rooms
As a precaution, the convicted felon and rapist will be locked in a room with mcdonald’s as per his request.