With just 15 days left until the scheduled Sept. 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, negotiations between their two campaigns have hit an impasse over whether the candidates’ microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak, according to four people familiar with the issue.

In June, President Joe Biden’s campaign came to an agreement with Trump’s: There would be two debates — CNN’s on June 27 and ABC’s on Sept. 10 — conducted by mutually negotiated rules. One of the Biden team’s demands — which the Trump team agreed to — was that microphones “will be muted throughout the debate except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak,” as CNN announced on June 15.

“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, the Harris campaign’s senior adviser for communications, tells 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. We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button.”

  • @sun_is_ra
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    4518 days ago

    I am surprised its team Harris is the one who want unmuted microphones. The whole time I thought it woukd be Trump

    • Zerlyna
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      3418 days ago

      We won’t get to hear him say the N word if he’s muted. Just a thought.

      • @[email protected]
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        1618 days ago

        Maybe they should mute the mics for the TV broadcast but also host a separate stream on the internet with full audio from both mics. That way Trump isn’t encouraged to interrupt, but we get to see him saying crazy shit if he tries.

      • @[email protected]
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        718 days ago

        If Donald drops a hard-R he will gain back some Repub voters who have been losing interest. Everyone else already knows he is racist.

    • @[email protected]
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      1718 days ago

      I could have sworn Ds wanted muted mics because trump was just talking over everyone and trampling the debate structure?

      • TheRealKuni
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        718 days ago

        Yeah but now they want to make him look bad. His team don’t think he can control himself when he’s not supposed to be talking, so they want him muted.

        It’s ridiculous. Just stick with what was already agreed on.

        • @[email protected]
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          518 days ago

          It looks like they’re still doing the September debate with muted mics that was already agreed upon but they’re negotiating for a possible October debate without muted mics.

        • edric
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          418 days ago

          I saw that statement too, and I agree. Yes it’s embarrassing for Trump’s team to admit that they need to mute him, but you can never underestimate how the guy can derail any discussion if you just allow him to talk over you, no matter how good a debater the person on the other side is.

        • @[email protected]
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          18 days ago

          Make him look bad? Everyone knows he’s bad, and and half the country loves that. I don’t see how this is going to help Kamala. Unless she can hold her own and push back when he talks over her (which will be incessant), this move seems largely in his favor. I do hope I’m proven wrong, though!

    • @[email protected]
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      1218 days ago

      Definitely want to hear what he says under his breath, it will show everyone who he truly is (most of us already know though).

      Same for Kamala obviously. Doubt she would say anything terrible. Mainly because she’s, I don’t know, respectable, descent, or something.

    • Flying Squid
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      1018 days ago

      He’s looking for any reason to weasel out of this because he knows he has no chance against a former prosecutor with a sound mind.

    • Ghostalmedia
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      518 days ago

      Look back to the first 2020 Biden Trump debate. Up until Biden 2024 performance, it was arguably one of the worst debate performances of all time.

      Harris wants to give him enough rope to hang himself.