ABC News denies Kamala Harris’ last-minute mic request for Trump debate as full set of rules revealed

The final debate rules ABC News is presenting to the campaigns put an end to Vice President Kamala Harris’ team’s efforts to keep the candidates’ microphones warm during the tense live exchanges.

Instead, the microphones are active only for the candidate designated as the speaker, and muted during the speaking time of the opponents.

That defeats a last-minute attempt by Team Harris to roll back a key line from Trump’s June CNN confrontation with President Joe Biden, whose incoherent answers helped end his re-election campaign.

After Harris became the effective nominee, her team tried to negotiate changes. They argued that the “hot mic” would allow Trump to make an unforced mistake. They challenged him by saying he was incapable of acting “presidential” for 90 minutes.

A source confirmed the rules to DailyMail.com, with campaigns being asked to fully agree to them.

The showdown is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, marking another key moment in the campaign. Harris continues to introduce herself to the public and is riding a post-convention “bounce” from the polls after she turned the race into a toss-up by replacing Biden.

There will be no audience, as there was for the CNN debate, in a move that denies candidates the chance to score forbidden applause with zingers. There will be two ABC moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, on the 90-minute program.

Props and pre-written notes are not allowed. Candidates will only be given blank paper, a pen and a bottle of water.

The rules allow for two-minute answers, as well as rebuttals of the same length. An additional minute is allowed for follow-ups and rebuttals.

“We believe Trump’s advisers prefer to have the microphone muted because they don’t think their candidate can act like a president for 90 minutes on his own,” said Brian Fallon, an adviser to Harris.

ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis will be the sole moderators

Because previous debates have sometimes gotten out of hand, the channel’s moderators will attempt to enforce time limits and maintain a “civilized discussion.”

“We believe Trump’s advisers prefer to turn off the microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential by himself for 90 minutes,” Harris’ adviser Brian Fallon said during negotiations this week.

Trump attacked the network this week and threatened to pull out over the microphone issue, but later said he was happy for the microphones to remain on, even though he was adhering to the deal his team negotiated with Biden.

“Why would I do the Kamala Harris debate on that network?” he asked.

Both campaigns are touting the importance of the debate, which is just a week away. Harris has eschewed the traditional post-convention travel sprint, instead organizing a two-day bus tour of Georgia to focus on debate preparation.

Trump is taking his own approach to preparing for the debate, but has also spoken about its importance and given a series of interviews — including with DailyMail.com on Wednesday — to prepare for the upcoming one.

Trump campaign advisor Corey Lewandowski said on a call with reporters Thursday that Harris’ team tried to pressure the network to change the debate rules in other ways, such as allowing candidates to bring prepared notes onto the stage.

The 5-foot-3 candidate also wanted to sit instead of stand behind the respective podiums opposite the 6-foot-3 former president, Lewandowsi said.

But the Harris-Walz campaign told DailyMail.com that the Trump camp’s latest claims are false.