ABC News has Denied Harris' Request to Alter the Debate Rules, with Microphones Remaining Muted

ABC News has turned down Kamala Harris' request to keep microphones unmuted throughout the September 10 debate with Donald Trump. The decision follows recent disagreements between the campaigns over the debate rules. In an email sent Tuesday, the network outlined rules akin to those from the former president's CNN debate with Joe Biden, including muted mics when a candidate is not speaking, according to the New York Post.

In the email from ABC News Chief Counsel Eric Lieberman, it was stated that there would be “no audience and no pre-written notes or props.” The network also noted that both Trump and Harris would only be permitted to have a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water while on stage.

The Trump campaign had called for debate rules similar to those from the June 27 debate, while the Harris campaign proposed on Monday that both candidates' microphones remain unmuted for the full 90 minutes.

In response to the rules laid out by ABC News, Harris campaign's spokesperson Brian Fallon wrote on X, “Our latest understanding is that even though Trump said Monday he would be fine with an unmuted mic, his handlers don’t trust him to spar live with VP Harris and are asking ABC to ignore Trump’s comments and keep the mics muted or else they will back out of the debate for a third time.”

“We have been asked to accede to Trump’s handlers’ wishes on this point for the sake of preserving the debate. We find the Trump’s team’s stance to be weak, and remain in discussions with ABC on the final rules,” Fallon added.

Meanwhile, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller blasted the Harris campaign, saying they are “completely full of it,” on Wednesday.

“Everything was agreed to and set last week. The Harris people are trying to distract and come up with something shiny to move away from the fact that she’s not doing interviews,” Miller added in a statement to Newsmax.