Trump says he has ‘reached an agreement’ on ABC debate with Kamala Harris and reveals the rules in bombshell statement
The presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has begun again and will air on September 10 on ABC.
The shocking news came from the former president, who said he had reached “an agreement” with Harris’ campaign for a primetime debate in Philadelphia that would follow the same rules as CNN’s debate with President Joe Biden.
His statement on Truth Social on Tuesday indicated that the impasse over whether microphones should be muted had been resolved.
Trump’s statement included a few lines, but didn’t specifically say what was being done about the microphone muting. But the former president indicated that he got his way and that the microphones would be muted.
The debate marks the first time the two presidential candidates will appear on stage together.
“I have reached an agreement with the radical left Democrats for a debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He lamented that Harris did not agree to a Fox News debate on Sept. 4 — ahead of the ABC date. He said the network and his campaign are keeping that date open “in case she changes her mind or flip-flops.”
He noted that the debate host, ABC News, is “by far the most annoying and dishonest news anchor in the business.”
“The rules are the same as the last CNN debate, which seemed to work out well for everybody except maybe Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump added.
The Trump-Biden debate set off a series of disastrous events for the president, ultimately leading to a pressure campaign to end his re-election campaign.
On July 21, Biden dropped out of the race for the 2024 presidency and endorsed his vice president.
Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has stayed true to the script and has rarely stepped from behind a podium, not doing a formal interview or holding a press conference.
Harris’ campaign has not yet announced whether the vice president will participate, but issued a statement earlier Tuesday criticizing Trump for repeating the line from the CNN debate.
“We have communicated to ABC and other networks interested in hosting a potential October debate that we believe both candidates’ microphones should be live for the entire broadcast,” Brian Fallon, Harris’ senior communications adviser, said in a statement.
“We believe Trump’s advisers prefer to turn off the microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act like a president for 90 minutes on his own,” he continued.
Microphones were muted during the CNN debate between Trump (left) and Joe Biden (right), which most saw as an advantage for the former president
However, the Harris team also speculated that Trump was unaware of the mic dispute, saying it would be “too embarrassing to admit that they don’t think Trump can handle Vice President Harris without the mute button.”
“The Vice President is ready to address Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”
Among the rules Trump mentioned in his Truth Social post is the fact that candidates will stand behind podiums for the debate. Also prohibited are “cheat sheets,” the former president noted.
“ABC has also assured us that this will be a ‘fair and equitable’ debate and that neither side will be asked questions beforehand,” he wrote in the post on his social media platform.