Trump threatens to skip debate after Harris’s team demands ‘hot mics’ always left on

Former president threatens to pull out of head-to-head encounter, accusing ABC News of ‘biased’ coverage

Donald Trump has threatened to skip his TV debate with Kamala Harris over demands by the vice-president’s team that microphones be left “hot” at all times.
The Harris campaign has requested that both candidates’ microphones remain on throughout the presidential campaign debate so that Trump will be heard if he loses his cool.
Trump has since accused ABC News, the host of the Sept 10 head-to-head, of “biased” coverage and said: “Why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network?”
Before being replaced by Ms Harris, Joe Biden had agreed with Trump that there would be no live audience at their debates and that microphones would be muted throughout except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
Mr Biden’s team believed this would stifle Trump’s ability to dominate and potentially derail the debate, as he did during their first on-stage encounter in the 2020 election.
Ms Harris’ campaign has taken a different view, and believes an unfettered Trump would alienate undecided voters watching at home and hand them an advantage.
“We have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” Brian Fallon, a senior Harris campaign adviser, told Politico.
“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own.”
The Republican candidate’s advisers have made clear they do not want any changes to the previously-agreed rules.
“Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate,” said Jason Miller, a senior Trump aide.
Mr Miller went on to claim that the Harris campaign have also requested that the candidates be seated for the debate, allowed to use notes and deliver opening statements.
“We said no changes to the agreed upon rules,” Mr Miller said.
Those claims were vigorously refuted by Ms Harris’ team. All parties “have agreed to standing and no notes, and we never sought otherwise”, Mr Fallon told Politico.
The ABC debate next month is the only one that both campaigns had agreed upon, but in a social media post on Sunday, Trump cast doubt on his attendance.
He said: “I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Karl’s ridiculous and biased interview… and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, ‘Why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network?’
“They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN?,” he added, “Stay tuned!!!”
Trump’s team has also hammered Ms Harris, 59, for failing to hold an interview since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, despite committing to do so before the end of August.
“This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won’t allow Harris to do interviews, they won’t allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat sheet for the debate,” Mr Miller told Politico, speculating they were “looking for a way to get out of any debate”.
Meanwhile, the Republican ex-president is ramping up his schedule of events in battleground states, with polls showing Ms Harris holds a narrow lead in many key states.
She has taken on an aggressive schedule in the hopes of out-working the 78-year-old Trump on the campaign trail, including a bus tour through Georgia this week.
Trump has announced a string of events as part of an effort to foil Ms Harris’ strategy, with a view to ramping up his schedule to daily appearances in the run-up to the election.
The Republican is expected to meet with service members in Michigan later on Monday and return to the state on Thursday before heading to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“Think Trump on steroids,” one Trump adviser told CNN of the shift in gear. “It’ll be all hands on deck.”