Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to the rules for the Philly presidential debate, including muted mics, ABC says

PHILADELPHIA — The rules for next week’s presidential debate in Philadelphia are officially set after Vice President Kamala Harris’ and former President Donald Trump’s campaigns agreed to a list of guidelines that include muting candidates’ microphones when they are not speaking, debate host ABC News said Wednesday.

The battle between the campaigns over the muted microphones at the debate at the National Constitution Center had grown increasingly contentious.

For more than a week, the Harris campaign had fought to keep the mics live for the duration of the debate, saying that Harris is ”ready to deal” with Trump’s interruptions or falsehoods, while the Republican’s campaign insisted the microphones should be muted. Harris said Saturday on X that the mic issue is a matter of debating in a “transparent way.”

While Harris ultimately agreed to mute the mics during the Sept. 10 debate, her campaign was not happy about it, according to a letter to ABC News, CNN reported.

According to CNN, Harris’ campaign wrote that as “a former prosecutor, [Harris] will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President.”

Harris’ direct, prosecutorial debating style has created big moments on the national stage in the past, making live mics more beneficial to her debate strategy as opposed to muting them, where any of Trump’s interruptions or extraneous remarks could be muffled.

“Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” became one of Harris’ most viral lines during the 2020 election as she fended off interruptions from former Vice President Mike Pence during their debate.

The Trump campaign sought to have the mics muted at the forthcoming debate against Harris, as they were when Trump debated President Joe Biden in June — a change from the 2020 presidential debate, when the Trump campaign advocated for them to be left on.

Trump himself originally appeared to be indifferent to the mic issue. “We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it probably on, but the agreement was it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted,” the former president told NBC News.

But as the date of Harris and Trump’s first debate drew closer, the battle over the microphones escalated, with both campaigns digging in their heels.

Jason Miller, Trump’s senior adviser, said in a statement last week that the Trump campaign “accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate,” which had the muted mics.

In a statement Wednesday, Miller said that the Trump campaign is “thrilled” the Harris campaign “finally accepted” the rules of the debate.

“Americans want to hear both candidates present their competing visions to the voters, unburdened by what has been,” Miller said. “No notes, no sitting down, no advance copies of the questions. We’ll see you in Philadelphia next Tuesday.”

ABC on Wednesday released the full list of rules for next week’s debate at the National Constitution Center, which will be presented without a live audience.

Among the rules is that candidates will be allocated two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses. Harris and Trump will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

Additionally, the candidates will stand behind their podiums for the duration of the debate, are not allowed to bring prewritten notes on stage, and will not make opening statements, ABC said in a news release. Harris and Trump will have two minutes for closing statements. Trump will make the final closing statement, choosing his spot after winning a coin toss, ABC said.

At his rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, last week, Trump said that he looked forward to debating Harris, after he originally cast doubts on his participation. The Harris campaign in its letter to ABC referenced Trump’s equivocation as another reason for agreeing to the Sept. 10 debate rules, CNN reported.

“Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate,” the campaign wrote.