The presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is back and scheduled for September 10 on ABC.
The bombshell came from the former president, who said he had “come to an agreement” with Harris’ campaign for a prime-time showdown in Philadelphia using the same rules as the CNN debate with President Joe Biden.
His statement on Truth Social on Tuesday suggested that the impasse over whether microphones should be muted had been resolved.
Trump’s statement included some rules, but did not specifically mention what is being done about muting microphones. However, the former president did imply that he got away with it and that microphones will be muted.
The debate will be the first time the two presidential candidates will share the stage.
“I have reached an agreement with the Radical Left Democrats for a debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He lamented that Harris had not agreed to a debate with Fox News on Sept. 4, before the ABC date. He said the network and his campaign are keeping that date open “in case she changes her mind or changes her mind.”
He said the debate host, ABC News, was “by far the most disgusting and unfair news anchor in the business.”
“The rules will be the same as the last CNN debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone except maybe crooked Joe Biden,” Trump added.
The Trump-Biden debate led to a series of disastrous events for the president that ultimately led to a pressure campaign to end his re-election bid.
On July 21, Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed his vice president.
Since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, Harris has stuck to the script and has barely left the podium. She has not given a formal interview or held a press conference.
Harris’ campaign has not yet said whether the vice president will participate, but released a statement Tuesday criticizing Trump for wanting to repeat CNN’s debate rule.
“We have told ABC and other networks looking to host a potential debate in October that we believe both candidates’ microphones should be on throughout the broadcast,” Harris’ senior communications adviser Brian Fallon said in a statement.
“We understand that Trump’s advisers prefer the microphone to be muted because they do not believe their candidate can act as president for 90 minutes on his own,” he continued.
The microphones were muted during the CNN debate between Trump (left) and Joe Biden (right), which most felt benefited the former president.
But Harris’ team also speculated that Trump was unaware of the microphone dispute, claiming that “it would be too embarrassing to admit that they don’t think he can stand up to Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”
“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.”
Among the rules Trump listed in his Truth Social post is the fact that candidates will stand behind podiums during the debate. They are also prohibited from being “cheat sheets,” the former president noted.
“ABC has also assured us that this will be a ‘fair and equal’ debate and that neither side will be asked questions in advance,” he wrote in the post on his social media platform.
