Former President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of a scheduled debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing ABC News of biased coverage. The Harris campaign has requested that both candidates’ microphones remain on throughout the debate to ensure that Trump can be heard if he loses his temper.
Trump criticized ABC News, which is hosting the September 10 debate, and questioned why he should participate on that network. This comes after earlier agreements between Trump and Joe Biden, before Biden was replaced by Harris, that there would be no live audience and that microphones would be muted except for the candidate whose turn it was to speak.
The Biden team had believed this arrangement would limit Trump’s ability to dominate the debate, a tactic he used in their first encounter during the 2020 election. In contrast, Harris’ campaign thinks that allowing Trump to speak freely could backfire and alienate undecided voters.
Brian Fallon, a senior Harris campaign adviser, told Politico that they had informed ABC and other networks that they wanted both candidates’ microphones to be live throughout the entire debate. He suggested that Trump’s team prefers muted microphones because they don’t believe their candidate can maintain a presidential demeanor for the full 90 minutes.
Trump’s advisers have insisted on sticking to the previously agreed-upon rules, with senior aide Jason Miller stating that they accepted the ABC debate under the same terms as the CNN debate. He also claimed that the Harris campaign requested changes such as seating the candidates, allowing notes, and delivering opening statements, which the Trump team rejected.
Harris’ team denied these claims, asserting that all parties had agreed to stand and not use notes during the debate.
Despite the upcoming ABC debate being the only one both campaigns had agreed to, Trump cast doubt on his participation in a social media post. He criticized ABC for biased coverage and questioned why Harris declined interviews with Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN.
Trump’s team has also criticized Harris for not holding any interviews since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, accusing her of avoiding the press and trying to find a way out of the debate.
Meanwhile, Trump is ramping up his campaign schedule, focusing on key battleground states where Harris holds a narrow lead. Harris is also intensifying her campaign efforts, including a bus tour through Georgia. Trump is expected to continue his campaign with events in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania in the coming days, as his team plans a series of appearances to counter Harris’ strategy.
One Trump adviser told CNN that the campaign is in overdrive, likening the effort to “Trump on steroids.”
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