Trump-Harris Debate Update - ABC DENIES Kamala’s Plea to Change THIS Rule
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has made an unsuccessful attempt to alter the rules for her upcoming debate with former President Donald Trump on September 10.
During the debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, one of the conditions was that the microphone of the person not responding to a moderator's question would be muted. Harris' team sought to remove this rule, hoping Trump might try to interrupt Harris, thereby damaging his image in the eyes of viewers.
However, ABC executives announced this week that the same rules applied in the Biden-Trump debate on CNN would govern the Harris-Trump debate as well. This means that Trump’s microphone will be muted when it’s not his turn to speak, and the same will apply to Harris.
The rules, detailed in a network email reviewed by The New York Post, outline restrictions such as no audience presence, no pre-written notes or props, and muted microphones when candidates are not speaking. On stage, candidates will only be permitted a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water.
After several days of negotiations—which Republicans criticized as a Democratic tactic to trap Trump—the network decided to retain the mute protocol originally used in the Trump-Biden CNN debate, according to the outlet.
ABC News informed both campaigns, through Chief Counsel Eric Lieberman, that the upcoming debate at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center would adhere to the same muted microphone protocol used in the previous CNN debate. The email, sent on Tuesday, laid out the established rules and sought formal agreement from both parties, The Post reported.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher challenged CNN host Kaitlin Collins regarding her network’s flattering coverage of Harris’ Democratic National Convention acceptance speech last week, while also noting that CNN appears overwhelmingly left-leaning to most American cable news viewers.
Maher began the segment by referencing a viral moment from Collins’ appearance on the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” after the host suggested that CNN provides fair coverage to both sides of the political aisle.
“He [Colbert] said something like, ‘You guys at CNN just report the news,’ and the crowd burst into laughter,” Maher recalled. “That tells you a lot, doesn’t it?”
Collins, unsurprisingly, offered a strong defense of her network. “CNN is the place where both sides can watch, and I think my show is evidence of that. We have lawmakers on from both the parties. We’ll have Elizabeth Warren on one night, and we’ll have Ted Cruz on another night. I think lawmakers from both parties should take questions, and you should push both of them,” she said.
“I’m talking about the people on CNN and I know what the conservative side of America thinks and I don’t blame them. I watched Kamala’s speech last night. It ended at 8:09 or, I guess, 11:09 in the east. It wasn’t until 11:23 until the one conservative guy, what’s his name?” he said, referring to former George W. Bush staffer and CNN contributor Scott Jennings. “Lonely Scott, I call him,” Maher said to audience laughter.
“From 8:09 to 11:23, they were just gushing about how great a speech [Kamala Harris delivered at the convention]. And I think she did fine, I didn’t think it was as good as they were making it out to be,” Maher said. “But if I’m a conservative in America and I’m watching CNN just for the straight middle of the road, that’s what I hear for 15 minutes, that it’s great. And then lonely Scott. When you look at the panel, it does look like tokenism. It’s almost the same as ‘The View.’ It’s almost better to have nobody there like MSNBC.”
Collins again defended her network and her show, asserting that it’s her job to call “bullshit” on both sides.
“Look, I’m from Alabama,” she said. “I’m from a very red state, I have a very conservative family, and a lot of them are Trump voters. They watch my show every night, and they know that they can trust me, that we call bullshit on every side.”